Nicknames

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 185577

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Carol" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:
>
> Carol earlier:
> ><snip>
> > > But as for "unlikely spur-of-the-moment choice," unlikely or not,
> it *is* a spur-of-the-moment invention. 
> > 
> > Geoff:
> > That, actually, is what I meant - that it was an "unlikely
> spur-of-the-moment invention" - it was a name which they had used already.
> 
> Carol responds:
> 
> It can't possibly be a name they've used already. All three boys are
> eleven years old and have just met--if you can call an unfriendly
> chance encounter "meeting." In SWM, it's a name they've used before,
> but in the Hogwarts Express encounter in "The Prince's Tale," Sirius
> (or, less likely, james) is making it up on the spot.
> > 
> Carol earlier:
> > > Neither James nor Sirius knows Severus. The only reason they know
>  >his first name is that Lily uses it. 
> > 
> > Geoff:
> > I think you're incorrect. <snip>
> > 
> > However, I think the following is the relevant piece of canon:
> > 
> > '"This'll liven you up, Padfoot" said James quietly. "Look who it is..."
> 
> Carol responds:
> 
> I see the source of confusion. Of course they knew who Severus was in
> SWM. They'd had classes with him for five years, and "Snape" would
> have stood out in a crowd. I'm talking about the first time Sirius (or
> possibly James) used the name, in the Hogwarts Express when they were
> all brand-new first-years.
> 
> Carol, who can't provide a page number for the Bloomsbury edition, but
> it's in "The Prince's Tale"

Geoff:
Just in passing, it's p.539.

This doesn't deny the fact that the nickname exists. Someone has 
to be the first person to coin it. And, as I said in earlier posts, 
nicknames don't have to be flattering or friendly. Look at "Richard 
Crookback" for King Richard III for example.

Hence a nickname can be "an undeserved taunt by an enemy."