My brain...

[tencrush]

I'm so fucking tired, I can't see straight.

ANYWAY:

Need to know why Americans call people who are called John "Jack" instead of "John," which is their name. Don't ask, I seem the be watching the Kennedys. But seriously, WHY IS THAT?

Comments

[thedorkygirl.livejournal.com]

BUT it is changing -- I hate it - but a lot of Jacks are actually Jackson now, or, the horror, Jaxon (or worse - just Jax!). JACK IS A DIMINUTIVE OF JOHN, DAMNIT.

Why can William be called Will or Bill? Why can Edward be Ed or Ned? It's because so many people were William or Edward that they needed to differentiate between the two, so the second Will became Bill, etc. I think John to Jack is along those same lines :)

What we Americans want to know is why Harry is a given name when obviously it's the shortform of Henry (or even *gasp* Harold!). But then we remember that you're so close to all those French folk, and obviously Henri would become Haaaa-rriiiii. Which I totally didn't see until I viewed the movies, and he wasn't "Hairy."