Strange nicknames

[MarcuccioV]

According to my mother, who was very close to her father (they kept no secrets between them), my grandfather's nickname in Italy was "Patata" (potato). Now he was short, albeit in his youth (he left Italy at age 19) not overweight (he was of a medium build later on, not skinny, not fat). He was also the only male child of 7 siblings.

The reason for this nickname eludes me. If my mother told me the meaning, I was so young I don't recall.

He came from a family of "contadini" (tenant farmers), and I know he went out to the fields to work prior to his emigration. Since a specialty dish of his home commune of Valmontone was "gnocchi lunghi" (potato noodles, which my mother was an artist at), it makes me wonder if they farmed predominantly potatoes on the parcel they tended..?

I can't figure out any other source for the nickname. Anyone else have a similar story..?

[darkerhorse]

At least you know he had earned the nickname by age 19.

It can be a cute nickname, but also vulgar. If he was Sicilian, I'd opt for the latter.

[MarcuccioV]

At least you know he had earned the nickname by age 19.

It can be a cute nickname, but also vulgar. If he was Sicilian, I'd opt for the latter.

Could be either. My impression was he was happy to drop it. How early the name stuck I don't know, nor at what age he was put to work. He was literate so he did attend school.

[greglam]

Nicknames were so prevalent where I grew up that none of them seemed particularly strange. In many cases if you referred to someone by their given name (if you even happened to know it yourself) instead of their nickname, most people wouldn't have known who you were talking about.

-Greg

[MarcuccioV]

Nicknames were so prevalent where I grew up that none of them seemed particularly strange. In many cases if you referred to someone by their given name (if you even happened to know it yourself) instead of their nickname, most people wouldn't have known who you were talking about.

-Greg

Nicknames in and of themselves are common (I have a half-dozen or more myself), but this one just seems odd. I would think there was a basis to it rather than just random, but I don't know...

He had no nicknames here in the US as far as I know...

[suanj]

Normally it is said in Italy: having a potato nose, or being a potato in the sense of having a squat body, or sometimes the nickname potato, is also given to be an avid potato eater, and therefore to speak often of potatoes but not only in the sense of food, not always referring to the tuber.
Normally we say "potato" to girls, in an affectionate way .. referring to the female genitals and therefore if an adult, especially in southern Italy, by "potato" we also mean that certain feminine thing ...

Potato is not an offensive nickname, but rather a humorous, mocking one, which comes either from some facial or body characteristic, or from being a glutton for potatoes ... or to being a man particularly attracted to women ... always having them in mind...

In my opinion, your ancestor's nickname could have come from his appetite for potatoes, he was glutton for them. ..

[MarcuccioV]

Potato is not an offensive nickname, but rather a humorous, mocking one, which comes either from some facial or body characteristic, or from being a glutton for potatoes ... or to being a man particularly attracted to women ... always having them in mind...

In my opinion, your ancestor's nickname could have come from his appetite for potatoes, he was glutton for them. ..

Suanj, I appreciate your input. It still seems mysterious, as I can't tie him to any of your explanations. He had more of a "Greek" nose, was short but not portly, and aside from occasional dinners of Gnocchi (both dumplings and noodles), he didn't seem "gluttonous" for potatoes.

Your other line of thought also did not fit him -- he was not fond of women who were flirtatious or 'forward' (he gave very negative accounts of the seemingly "loose" French women he encountered while in France with the US Army in WWI -- referring to them as "puttani francese").

I guess I'll just have to accept the fact that it was an interesting nickname and leave it at that. Since it was not used here in the US, he must have been either offended or indifferent about it...

[suanj]

oh, well, these that I have described to you are the most common that we use .... but obviously there are others that are certainly more particular, which can be from a particular area, or abt a person's particular behaviors, or something else. You need to know the person to understand what the nickname could refer to... however it was certainly not an offensive nickname, but a humorous one.

[MarcuccioV]

oh, well, these that I have described to you are the most common that we use .... but obviously there are others that are certainly more particular, which can be from a particular area, or abt a person's particular behaviors, or something else. You need to know the person to understand what the nickname could refer to... however it was certainly not an offensive nickname, but a humorous one.

This is why I think perhaps his family may have been potato farmers -- since he was the sole male of 7 children, it was likely his obligation to tend the plot they rented (along with his father), and since "gnocchi lunghi" was a famous staple of the town, I assume there were potato growers in the immediate area...