* NICKNAMES *

 Separation of the verbal craft from the household is impossible; they are inseparable; they form a coherent whole. And best illustrate this unity are nicknames.
 This folklore genre's mocking, satirical tone causes a temperamental person quite violent protest in vain: the nickname assigned to him sticks even stronger.
 There have been cases when people are moved to another parish to get rid of the nicknames in vain! But one wise guy decided to outwit everybody, invented a new (of course, more harmonious) nickname and secretly began to introduce it to life, hoping in this way to get rid of the old. But, alas, it did not work out. The old nickname has proved more resilient.


 Such an experience for an intelligent person may not remain in vain. Self-irony is the universal sign of a more developed mind. Humour dissolved an offence and, at times, quite liberated people from nicknames. So, a little man, who has inherited the nickname "Balalaikin," ending a speech at the village meeting, asked: "Do you want me to strum some more or to sit down already?" Such people were respected, and a respected person was called by name and patronymic even behind their back. However, Humour, protecting dignity, can not be confused with buffoonery, when people in the artistic fervour of self-abasement now and then call themselves by a nickname.


 The breadth of distribution of nicknames in antiquity confirms the fact that even the great princes have not always avoided the second name (Ivan the Gate, Dmitry Shemyaka, Vasily the Dark).

 The power of images enclosed in Russian nicknames did not mercy individuals but also entire nations, lands, and countries. The satirical tone of these nicknames was no more substantial than in the nicknames given to own regions and provinces. People of the Arkhangelsk province, for example, have long been nicknamed Seal-eaters, the Vladimir province as Cranberry-eaters, Borisoglebtsk people as Sour-nesters. Vyatka inhabitants were dubbed Blind-born because in 1480, coming to the aid of the city of Ustyug too hastily opened the battle against the Tatars. They suddenly discovered that they beat their own at dawn, who came to the rescue.
 Vologda people were dubbed "Calves," people from Bryansk as "Teases." Novgorod people called either Tug-eaters, then "Hammers." Muromets citizens were dubbed Saint-drivers because, in the XIII century, they expelled Bishop Basil from his town. Counties, municipalities, and individual villages were usually honoured with their nicknames.


 The variety of personal nicknames is truly immense. Here are a few women's nicknames prevalent in Sohotskoy parish: Pelya, Small Onion, Small Cockroach, Moss, Card, Pole, Stove Gate.


 One of the shoemakers was assigned a new name - Bunion.


 Many peasant nicknames transformed into surnames at the turn of the XIX and XX centuries.


 When leaving their homes, many people changed not only surnames but also their first names. This habit occurred for different, sometimes menacing, social reasons.


 In other cases, these reasons weren't hazardous. For example, a farm boy and a correspondent of the newspaper "The Red North," living in a remote village of Vologda, signs his letter with the name Filman. The other guy, not on their own and for the ability to speak, has earned the nickname Mothman. The old woman, who came to him with some distress, called him "Father-Mothman." This event alone was enough to diminish his bossy authority permanently.


 Typically, the nickname was given on psychological grounds, but not less frequently and by appearance. In the village Korgozere Vozhegodskiy district, there are some exciting stories of some Cabbage heads and Tower nicknames. Cabbage |Head allegedly escorted Tower from a party to her home and started to annoy her, for which she pushed him with his harmonica into a river. He was called Cabbage Head because of his thick mop of hair, and she was called Tower for her height.


 Male nicknames were quite tricky: Tilima, Cardan, Butya, and Kulyban. Many of them were given names of birds, animals, and insects (Jackdaw, Sparrow, Beetle, Rabbit, Cat, Otter, etc.).
 Often nicknames became characteristic of adjectives: Smart, Impertinent, Buttered. The meaning of the nickname was often counterintuitive. Thus, a six-foot truck driver was nicknamed Little Nicky, and an utterly bald driver - Frizzy Nicky. The chairman of a collective farm who was sent from a big city and did not know the difference between spring and winter sowing immediately got the nickname "Timiriazev (Burbank)." And he learned about his nickname only on the day of his final departure from the village.