Americans still have that "official name vs. everyday-use name" thing to a very large degree.
Legolas Send a noteboard - 26/03/2011 12:08:26 AM
I also hate it when people think that "Sasha", "Natasha" or "Tanya" are proper full names. It would be as stupid as giving someone "Bill", "Jack" or "Susie" as a full name over here (not that ignorant people don't do that, either).
As do Russians of course, as you point out, but I think in most other Western languages/countries it's become rather rare. Except maybe all the Spanish female names that are somehow an abbreviation of something involving Maria.
In here, in any case, it's barely ever done anymore - probably never was done to as large an extent in the first place. Unless you count Francophone civil servants automatically French-ifying the names of Flemish babies when they were registered back in the day.

Which apostles of Jesus Christ have you known? In the biblical sense, of course.
23/03/2011 04:52:48 AM
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About as close as I can get it is a Mary *NM*
23/03/2011 04:55:10 AM
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Slutty. I like it *NM*
23/03/2011 05:10:03 AM
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My answer.
23/03/2011 05:14:54 AM
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Oh prude! 12 would have been a much sexier answer *NM*
23/03/2011 05:19:45 AM
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Where is the line between prude and slut? *NM*
23/03/2011 05:34:57 AM
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Sorry, trade secret. *NM*
23/03/2011 05:37:46 AM
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Darn!
23/03/2011 05:44:33 AM
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My challenge to you...
23/03/2011 06:39:06 AM
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How can they have English names, when English didn't even exist yet!?! *NM*
23/03/2011 08:56:09 AM
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God must be a forward thinker. *NM*
23/03/2011 09:34:07 AM
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Well he is omniscient, and he loved Evangelical Baptists above all. It makes sense. *NM*
23/03/2011 10:56:05 AM
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1.5
23/03/2011 02:43:46 PM
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Why?
23/03/2011 03:15:23 PM
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lol, I'm sorry, that just got a lot funnier than I had expected it to.
23/03/2011 03:25:38 PM
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In a strictly Biblical sense, it's the men who do the "knowing" and women who are "known". *NM*
23/03/2011 10:20:34 PM
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Do women get to know anything then? *NM*
24/03/2011 04:25:24 AM
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Can they know themselves? *NM*
24/03/2011 04:31:24 AM
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Good question. According to Biblical scholar Richard Elliott Friedman:
24/03/2011 01:36:56 PM
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That seems over simplified in a few areas, though I've always agreed with the, er, "main thrust".
27/03/2011 05:13:14 AM
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What a terribly thought-out and absolutely groundless response you have shat out.
28/03/2011 05:56:56 AM
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Next time I'm defending you against charges of elitism remind me to forget this exchange.
28/03/2011 08:38:10 PM
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I never asked you to defend me against charges of elitism; I am an elitist.
29/03/2011 12:55:12 AM
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Then I'll have to settle for hoping you're not as representative of RAFO as some fear.
31/03/2011 10:06:34 PM
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Also, John and Jonathan are not the same name.
24/03/2011 02:48:49 AM
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Well Tom, if you've *been known* by both a John and a Jonathan, my hat's off to you.
24/03/2011 04:11:49 AM
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Which is why "Johnathan", "Jonathon" and the like are such abominable names. *NM*
25/03/2011 07:41:02 PM
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I hate it when people of the same ethnicity have different spellings of essentially the same name. *NM*
25/03/2011 10:20:32 PM
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Алина, Алена, Елена really bothers me
25/03/2011 11:42:56 PM
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Americans still have that "official name vs. everyday-use name" thing to a very large degree.
26/03/2011 12:08:26 AM
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Germans do it.
26/03/2011 12:20:21 AM
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I think you'll find they do it rather less these days.
26/03/2011 12:31:54 AM
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I think you may be misunderstanding the concept of nicknames.
26/03/2011 04:17:09 PM
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Is it me, or are your first and last sentence in direct contradiction of each other?
26/03/2011 04:55:33 PM
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Actually, all Slavic languages do it extensively.
26/03/2011 12:29:39 AM
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My experience with Slavic languages is extremely limited, but...
26/03/2011 12:44:19 AM
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But "Tom" isn't a proper name.
26/03/2011 01:53:38 PM
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Oh that's not that bad!
26/03/2011 03:48:05 PM
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Well, you're in luck!
26/03/2011 04:52:18 PM
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But I can't!
26/03/2011 05:13:20 PM
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So you wouldn't love me anymore if you found out my given name was Bobby?
27/03/2011 05:18:19 AM
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I don't mind it if the alternative spelling is at least somewhat current.
26/03/2011 12:03:54 AM
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I love how as long as you're around I don't have to point out stuff like this.
27/03/2011 03:26:04 AM
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I guess I haven't gone the apostle route
24/03/2011 01:48:48 PM
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Re: I guess I haven't gone the apostle route
24/03/2011 09:59:17 PM
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Are there more Peters, or are Peters more likely to get laid? *NM*
25/03/2011 06:08:51 AM
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Re: Are there more Peters, or are Peters more likely to get laid?
25/03/2011 11:10:47 AM
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I had no idea!
26/03/2011 04:28:06 PM
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The entire English-speaking world, generally
26/03/2011 04:55:01 PM
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I know a lot of words for male genetalia, but I'd simply never heard Peter... weird. *NM*
26/03/2011 05:51:56 PM
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I've never heard Peter as a word for penis.
26/03/2011 06:00:12 PM
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Really? There's a whole off color joke built around that in The World According to Garp.
27/03/2011 03:53:57 AM
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It's never too late! *NM*
25/03/2011 06:42:01 PM
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Ah, I'm probably going to be known by only one man for the rest of my life
26/03/2011 04:27:41 PM
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Well then maybe it is too late
*NM*
26/03/2011 05:25:46 PM
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Yeah, most likely :-) it's actually quite nice to be honest. *NM*
26/03/2011 05:52:37 PM
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Just Magdalene, sorry, and she only counts if you're a Gnostic or Neo-Gnostic.
27/03/2011 03:23:58 AM
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