Nobody ever would want a nickname that made them sound especially weak or silly. I am however amazed at how difficult it is to pick out a good name. When I was young I was speaking with my friend in the entryway and my father overheard us, he overheard me speaking to someone and so asked me to whom I was speaking. I thought it would be clever and said that I had a mouse in my pocket.
From that day forward my friend was called “mouse” by my father. The nickname stuck despite being a rather offhand comment. Over the years I have tried on occasion to give a nickname to a friend or a colleague but usually it was a futile act. Unfortunately at my first job I had a better luck, yet like my father it was not so much of an intentional act, and Dan didn’t seem to appreciate it.
Dan was clowning around one day carrying a plant as camouflage just like in the cartoons with the goal of not being seen. My comment was something similar to “whatcha doing skippy”, well that was said out loud and even heard by a couple of people. It was an instant hit. The nickname fit so well he couldn’t get rid of it. To his last day at the company he was trying to get away from that nickname.
Sorry about that Dan