How do you get...?
 

This question has been bugging me and some friends of mine. How do you get the nickname Pippin from Peregrin? I understand Sam from Samwise, and Merry from Meridoc but Pippin????? Please help.

How do you get Bill from William, Chuck from Charles, Bob from Robert?

dictionary.com defines nickname as:
I think the key words are 'familiar' and 'replace'.

Nicknames are replacements for real name that, though not always based upon the actual name, become famliar enough to stick.

That makes an interesting point when getting "**** " from Richard.

Interesting...

I guess it is kinda short for Peregrin. Well they both start with a P. Pippin and Pere kinda go toget her. Forget me n/m. Well hi Frodo sorry I have been gone. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

What, would you rather they call him Perey? o_O; lol.

Well, I have no clue where Pippin came from but I think it suits him well and it is still sort of similar.
And I know I have a few nicknames that aren't at all or are hardly like my actual name itself.

(Don't laugh)I've always thought that was because of Pepin the Short (king of Franks). "Pipin" is too similar, don't you think?
Look: I know Peregrin is not Pipin because of
Pepin the Short. I just like the coincidence!
[img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[ September 26, 2002: Message edited by: Hobbit maiden ]

The musical "Pippin" is loosely based on Pepin the short... another kinda link [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Then you cant froget that Merry shortened it even more when he calls him Pip.

I find it irritating when people shorten nicknames. But in spite of what other people call you, it's all a matter of affection.

[ September 28, 2002: Message edited by: Neferchoirwen ]

Neferchoirwen is right.

This topic reminds me of a line in ROTK that always sticks out in my mind: it was when Sam was trying to figure out a name for his baby girl. "Pick something short to begin with so it won't have to get shortened later," I think that's what the Gaffer said, or pretty close to it. Which pretty much ruled out Galadriel, I guess. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Since most of the hobbit-lasses had flower names, he picked Elanor, the "sun-star". Which, co-incidentally, is what I plan on naming my daughter (if and when I ever have children), which will probably be shortened to "Elie," or "El" or something similar anyway later on. I guess there's really no way to stop the process.

Okay. That had nothing to do with anything. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

-'Vana

Personally I always wondered about those old-fashioned abbreviations for given names; how DID "Jno." come to be an abbreviation for John, anyway? But that's another story.

Pippin's nickname isn't necessarily based on his given name the way, say, Sam's nickname is. Hobbits seem to fond of giving nicknames that relate to the subject's physical characteristics as much as to their given name - witness Fredegar (Fatty) Bolger, whose nickname has only one letter in common with his given name but which nonetheless sums him up pretty well. Merry is sort of the same way - true, it's a handy abbreviation of Meriadoc, but Tolkien mentions in the appendices somewhere that the nickname was also a jokey comment on his character.

So why Pippin? In ROTK, Bilbo describes Pippin as "little Pippin" which would imply that the pre-Ent-draught Pippin was a fairly small guy even for a hobbit; not to mention that he's the youngest of the four companions and may still have been young enough to grow a little more - in the ordinary way - when they left the Shire. Personally I'd suggest that the nickname comes from a fruit pippin, or pip, which is very tiny - or from "young pipsqueak", though I like the fruit pippin option myself [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]. Like Fatty, Pippin's nickname would have a letter or two in common with his given name, but its first purpose would be to describe him as being small and young.

oh I have an idea [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] (amazing!) you could call a small misceivios(sp?) Pip
"Why you little Pip!" it works! im going to start using it

One time I found 'pip' in my dictionary, and it means 'a well liked person' and I'm sure Tolkien was aware of this meaning.
see ya,
~M