What’s a pigeon-smidgeon?

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That’s me, second from the right, wondering what a “chucklebutty” is…

I’ll give you a clue. It’s the same as a “chucklebutty” and a “toochy face”. Yep, I’ve been thinking about pet names.

No, not the names I call my pets (although we do have a guinea pig named Sweetie, which has caused a bit of confusion, with my 3-year-old asking “Which one Sweetie?”), but the names my parents called me and my sister and the names I call my two sons.

When my parents chose to call me Keris, they said they thought it would be shortened to Kerry. No one has ever called me Kerry. Instead, my mum and dad either called me Kerissma and Kerissimo, along with the above-mentioned “pigeon-smidgeon” which did get shortened. To “pidge”. And “smidge”.

I call my husband “Duf” which is short for “doofus” (which I used to think was spelled “dufus”). He calls me “Kezza”.

When I was thinking about this post, I asked my 8-year-old, Harry, what I call him. He said, “Sometimes ‘chicken’…” I also call him “H”, “Hazza”, “Haribo” and “Harold” (even though he’s just Harry). As well as “Sweetie”, I call my other son Joe “Joe-bo”, “Bo” and sometimes “Josephine” (but, oddly, never Joseph). I call them both “fish face.”

It’s funny, all this name-calling, don’t you think? But I like it. Thinking of my parents saying “pidge” or “smidge” brings them back more strongly than almost anything else, which makes me happy (and also sad, obviously).

What about you? What’s your favourite pet name?