mcfinn
Member
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2010
- Messages
- 215
Am always curious to hear other FFers' origin stories re: a good nickname, or a famous family member with an awesome trout-camp monicker...
That said, what is true of many Pennsylvania FFing families is DOUBLY so of my own. The rediculous rituals, the vainglorious camps and the uncannily timed bestowing of splendid FF nicknames. There have been legendary (at least to us) great-grandfathers, distant cousins and even the odd in-law enshrined in the family canon and inked into the sleeves of the dog-eared bibles of Aunt So & So or Uncle Somebody-Or-Other. Famously remembered not because they were accomplished outdoorsmen, but because they found themselves at the receiving end of a nickname so PERFECT, it stuck to their flyfishing (and often personal) lives ever forward.
There were ground rules, of course. It was a given, for example that one can neither nickname one's self, nor lobby for a preferred - or apriori - nickname. Secondly, nicknames remained non-transferable. For example, one of my FFing cousins is referred to as "Country Mike". Were he to move to downtown Chicago, his nickname wouldn't morph into "Uptown Mike" (even though that IS a cool sounding nickname...) He'll always be "Country Mike" to us.
Another given in the Art of the Nickname seems to be that, in general, older/wiser FF family member/s who are themselves the happy possessors of awesome nicknames 'hatch' epithets for their peers seemingly at will, but specialize in the nicknaming of younger generations. We see the most successful efforts at nicknaming are based on some observable quirk SPECIFIC to the nickname-ee - usually during the lucky youngsters' first visit to trout camp with the fam (as my young cousin, "Two Beer Larry" learned during HIS first trout camp few years back...).
Lastly, it's a given that the 'glue' behind any artful FFing nickname seems to be the telling and re-telling of its origin over drinks. This cements family bonds while reinforcing a nickname's sway over its possesor as well as the dominance of he who generated the nickname over its owner. There's nothing quite like sipping warm booze while slipping into a comfy spot out back of the familiar fish cabin while my favorite great-uncles mercillessly ressurect the seminal events that transformed my amorous Uncle Bobby into "Ricochet Romance" or when the old-timers, grey and grizzled gleefully recall a riotous tome known in my family simply as "The Miracle of the Hat" which converted my land-lubbing Cousin Tommy into, "The Commodore". And yes, it's a delight to hear - over and freakin' over - the unnecessarily long and tragic opera of circumstances that spawned the rare nickname WITHIN a nickname belonging to a certain "Mickey 'Five-Balls' Finn" (hence, 'mcfinn').
Let's hope that the Art of Nicknaming in FFing stays fresh in the alarmingly histrionic recollections of ALL the insufferable FFing family groups out there - who, through the sort of pluck acquired only after devoting YEARS to belittling the rest of us- keep humble a great number of future FFers. i wouldn't trade being a witness to their efforts for anything. Not even a better nickname.
That said, what is true of many Pennsylvania FFing families is DOUBLY so of my own. The rediculous rituals, the vainglorious camps and the uncannily timed bestowing of splendid FF nicknames. There have been legendary (at least to us) great-grandfathers, distant cousins and even the odd in-law enshrined in the family canon and inked into the sleeves of the dog-eared bibles of Aunt So & So or Uncle Somebody-Or-Other. Famously remembered not because they were accomplished outdoorsmen, but because they found themselves at the receiving end of a nickname so PERFECT, it stuck to their flyfishing (and often personal) lives ever forward.
There were ground rules, of course. It was a given, for example that one can neither nickname one's self, nor lobby for a preferred - or apriori - nickname. Secondly, nicknames remained non-transferable. For example, one of my FFing cousins is referred to as "Country Mike". Were he to move to downtown Chicago, his nickname wouldn't morph into "Uptown Mike" (even though that IS a cool sounding nickname...) He'll always be "Country Mike" to us.
Another given in the Art of the Nickname seems to be that, in general, older/wiser FF family member/s who are themselves the happy possessors of awesome nicknames 'hatch' epithets for their peers seemingly at will, but specialize in the nicknaming of younger generations. We see the most successful efforts at nicknaming are based on some observable quirk SPECIFIC to the nickname-ee - usually during the lucky youngsters' first visit to trout camp with the fam (as my young cousin, "Two Beer Larry" learned during HIS first trout camp few years back...).
Lastly, it's a given that the 'glue' behind any artful FFing nickname seems to be the telling and re-telling of its origin over drinks. This cements family bonds while reinforcing a nickname's sway over its possesor as well as the dominance of he who generated the nickname over its owner. There's nothing quite like sipping warm booze while slipping into a comfy spot out back of the familiar fish cabin while my favorite great-uncles mercillessly ressurect the seminal events that transformed my amorous Uncle Bobby into "Ricochet Romance" or when the old-timers, grey and grizzled gleefully recall a riotous tome known in my family simply as "The Miracle of the Hat" which converted my land-lubbing Cousin Tommy into, "The Commodore". And yes, it's a delight to hear - over and freakin' over - the unnecessarily long and tragic opera of circumstances that spawned the rare nickname WITHIN a nickname belonging to a certain "Mickey 'Five-Balls' Finn" (hence, 'mcfinn').
Let's hope that the Art of Nicknaming in FFing stays fresh in the alarmingly histrionic recollections of ALL the insufferable FFing family groups out there - who, through the sort of pluck acquired only after devoting YEARS to belittling the rest of us- keep humble a great number of future FFers. i wouldn't trade being a witness to their efforts for anything. Not even a better nickname.
