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Comment by rhdunn | Hacker News Reader

Richard is often shortened to Dick, e.g. as in "Tom, Dick, and Harry".

I know that Dick is another name for Richard. But Why? They don't seem to even be plays off of the same name, nor do they sound the same at all.

It's like if another name for John was Frank. It makes zero sense.

It comes from Middle English rhyming slang. Rick -> Dick; Rob -> Bob.

It likely originated in rhyming slang where words that rhyme are used as replacement[0]. It isn't the only example in nick names. Bill is a nickname for William and Bob is a nickname for Robert.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyming_slang

Wait till you find out about "Buffy".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy

Wait till you find out about "Tiffany"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LMr5XTgeyI (CGP Grey)

(spoiler: he couldn't find out where it came from, and did this video on his research to explain more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEV9qoup2mQ )

The standard of counting as "Tiffany" is strange. He's not happy with Θεοφανώ or Theophania, but he's perfectly happy to count (French) Tiphaine, Thifaine, Thiephaine, and (English) Tephany as being "obviously" the modern name. But the difference between Tephany and Theophania is down to the "Th" at the beginning. Why agonize over the difference between the very well-attested Greek Theophania and modern Tiffany if it's so clear that medieval Tephany matches the modern form? It's a better match for the Greek form!

Did you know people often use Jack as a shorthand for John? JFK was often, famously, referred to as Jack Kennedy when he was alive...

And of course he married a woman named Jacqueline.

See also Prince Harry (Duke of Sussex) who was christened Henry.

My wife's name is Aleksandra, but the short version of that is Ola. Similarly, Olek is a short for Aleksander. Also no idea why.

> Olek is a short for Aleksander.

Very likely this is due to both being transliterations from Cyrillic.

This is correct.

Oleksander is Ukranian form of Aleksander.

The O/A phonetic distinction in Russian and related languages is tricky, with some dialects making a distinction and some not (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel_reduction_in_Russian and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akanye)

If someone would pronounce Alek and Olek the same, the chosen transcription of the shortened nickname is pretty much arbitrary.

Or the diminutive is Sasha. For reasons?

Wait until you find out what Peggy, Betty, or Tina are short forms of.

Another name for John is Jack, though.

The nickname for John is Jack, actually. Jack and Dick both belong to a class of nicknames that all end in "ck" or "k" sounds, but for which the original doesn't have a k sound.

* Jack

* Dick

* Rock from Roland

* Hank from Henry

* Chuck from Charles

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