![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonteWhat I am called and by whom...
If you call me...
Alex - You're probably a member of the vast majority of people I know. And even most likely someone I just met.
Alexander - Odds are you barely know me, and only know my name from an application of some sort. Nearly every job interview I go on begins with "shall I call you Alexander or Alex?" I tried to use Alexander on my business card, but it just seemed too formal. i guess if I ever get published, I'll have a decision to make about how formal I need to be.
Mr. Wittenberg - You're probably a telemarketer of some sort.
Simon - You know me from the myriad comic book-related boards where I use my Simon DelMonte moniker, or from my days as a comic book letter-writing fanboy. There are only three people I've met in person who call me Simon, and they all know it's only a pen name.
sdelmonte - You know me as a guy on LJ but don't know me that well in person.
Yonah Tzvi - You are a sexton in the synagogue and I am being called to the Torah. Yonah Tzvi is my Hebrew name, but I've never used it and don't have a huge attachment to it. Even my rabbis never call me this name.
Tzvi - You're my mother, who wanted to name me "Tzvi" and not "Yonah Tzvi." I've never quite understood why she uses this name, but she uses it infrequently these days.
Witt - You are likely a high school or college classmate, abbreviating my name but also acknowledging that after some small fashion I am witty. Never cared for this nickname, but never hated it either.
Al - You're my former roommates from sophomore year. I have long hated Al, and made the mistake of saying so that year.
Al the Witty Wittster - Like I said, never complain to roommates about nicknames.
Al the Witty Arms Dealer - You are Avi S., one of those roommates, annoyed that you got a wrong number from a Persian student at YU. In a rare moment of political awareness - this was a guy who made me go elsewhere to hear Reagan's address about Iran/Contra - he decided that the Persian at the other end must be from Iran, and that he was calling to make another arms-for-hostages deal.
Schmittenberg/Schmitty - You are my seventh/eighth grade rabbi, a man who had a great influence on the course of my life, but who also had an odd sense of humor.
Carlos - You are Jeff F., a long- since-forgotten high school classmate who was apparently referencing some 1980s films in calling me that. Not liked it, never got the joke.
Uncle Alex - You are one of my nieces or nephews. Or you a friend with young children trying to get your kids to call me Uncle Alex. Love being called this by family. Less enthralled, if honored, by non-relative trying to give me this honorific. (It's confusing enough being a kid without false relatives.)
If you call me...
Alex - You're probably a member of the vast majority of people I know. And even most likely someone I just met.
Alexander - Odds are you barely know me, and only know my name from an application of some sort. Nearly every job interview I go on begins with "shall I call you Alexander or Alex?" I tried to use Alexander on my business card, but it just seemed too formal. i guess if I ever get published, I'll have a decision to make about how formal I need to be.
Mr. Wittenberg - You're probably a telemarketer of some sort.
Simon - You know me from the myriad comic book-related boards where I use my Simon DelMonte moniker, or from my days as a comic book letter-writing fanboy. There are only three people I've met in person who call me Simon, and they all know it's only a pen name.
sdelmonte - You know me as a guy on LJ but don't know me that well in person.
Yonah Tzvi - You are a sexton in the synagogue and I am being called to the Torah. Yonah Tzvi is my Hebrew name, but I've never used it and don't have a huge attachment to it. Even my rabbis never call me this name.
Tzvi - You're my mother, who wanted to name me "Tzvi" and not "Yonah Tzvi." I've never quite understood why she uses this name, but she uses it infrequently these days.
Witt - You are likely a high school or college classmate, abbreviating my name but also acknowledging that after some small fashion I am witty. Never cared for this nickname, but never hated it either.
Al - You're my former roommates from sophomore year. I have long hated Al, and made the mistake of saying so that year.
Al the Witty Wittster - Like I said, never complain to roommates about nicknames.
Al the Witty Arms Dealer - You are Avi S., one of those roommates, annoyed that you got a wrong number from a Persian student at YU. In a rare moment of political awareness - this was a guy who made me go elsewhere to hear Reagan's address about Iran/Contra - he decided that the Persian at the other end must be from Iran, and that he was calling to make another arms-for-hostages deal.
Schmittenberg/Schmitty - You are my seventh/eighth grade rabbi, a man who had a great influence on the course of my life, but who also had an odd sense of humor.
Carlos - You are Jeff F., a long- since-forgotten high school classmate who was apparently referencing some 1980s films in calling me that. Not liked it, never got the joke.
Uncle Alex - You are one of my nieces or nephews. Or you a friend with young children trying to get your kids to call me Uncle Alex. Love being called this by family. Less enthralled, if honored, by non-relative trying to give me this honorific. (It's confusing enough being a kid without false relatives.)
