Is Polly *only* short for Mary?

[ArsenicSoup]

Or for other names too?

Yes the word 'nickname' can make people think of guys who are known to their friends as 'Crazy Dave' or 'Jimbo'.

I suppose the Victorians would have used the term 'pet name'.

Please call her Crazy Dave.

How about 'diminuative'?

Or 'diminutive' even.

(About names not as one)

You can use 'diminutive', it still means 'short for' though. Not that it really matters!

CRAZY DAVE

Well yes, but it's a more officially sanctioned misnomer . All the russian names seem to have longer diminutives listed in the baby name dictionary, for example.

Crazy Dave is starting to sound quite good.

I can't hear any of you, my fingers are in my ears.

I only know one Polly and its short for Pauline.

Has anyone else heard of Daisy as a nickname for Margaret? I've always believed it but was the only one who had heard of it in a group recently.

The French word for daisy is marguerite. That's how Daisy came to be short for Margaret.

Crazy Dave!

Sorry - couldn't resist

I like Crazy Dave. Has a certain crazy daveness to it.

I like Crazy Dave. Has a certain crazy daveness to it.

How many weeks do we have to convince you crazy Dave is the way Arsenic?

If I just say 'one' will it abbreviate this heckling?

I think Polly is a lovely name in it's own right

Yes, I'm coming down in favour, Ithink Armani

Crazy Dave it is then.

Jack is a diminutive of John but people use it as a own right.
I think the same is true for Polly.

DH is thinking of Polly. I think I might mention Crazy Dave to him now.

Crazy Dave it is then.

Polly is what we would call a catastrophic contraceptive failure dd2.