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HelpRe: Biggles and Posie
in reply to a message by insane romantic
There was a character nicknamed Tuppence in a couple of lesser-known Agatha Christie books. Had a husband called Tommy. Literary pedigree, therefore, or subliterary anyway.
Biggles was the very gung-ho hero of numerous boys' books back in the 1920s and onwards. A pilot, went around zapping the bad guys and flying off triumphantly into the sunset. Very unsophisticated by today's standards - reading them now is like time travel. Also very prejudiced towards anyone with a native language other than English, and indeed to any "natives"!
Posie happens. There was a somewhat feminist cartoonist on the Guardian called Posie Simmonds or something (too lazy to look it up). Usually a nn for a Rose name. Connected to Kew, perhaps?!
So, nmsaa but one can see where they're coming from.
Biggles was the very gung-ho hero of numerous boys' books back in the 1920s and onwards. A pilot, went around zapping the bad guys and flying off triumphantly into the sunset. Very unsophisticated by today's standards - reading them now is like time travel. Also very prejudiced towards anyone with a native language other than English, and indeed to any "natives"!
Posie happens. There was a somewhat feminist cartoonist on the Guardian called Posie Simmonds or something (too lazy to look it up). Usually a nn for a Rose name. Connected to Kew, perhaps?!
So, nmsaa but one can see where they're coming from.
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Didn't some actress call herself Tuesday rather than Susan? Similar sounds, and a more familiar word. Or, I could see a particular kind of family naming the first daughter Penelope and then the second (anything from Amy to Zoe) might become Tuppence as a natural progression.
More realistically, the parents of Biggles and Posie have proved their affection for nicknames used as full names ... perhaps little Biggles was lucky to escape with a mere literary lnfn!
More realistically, the parents of Biggles and Posie have proved their affection for nicknames used as full names ... perhaps little Biggles was lucky to escape with a mere literary lnfn!
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