"Thomas" is a proper name derived from the Gospels and it has a meaning. "Tom" is just a short form of Thomas. In my personal experience, I use the name "Tom" more because having a first name ending in -s clashes with my last name. On business cards, however, I have my full name (with middle initial), and many people call me by my full name (my mother positively hates "Tom" though she did call me "Tommy" when I was little).
Ah, I didn't know some people used your full name.
In any case, lots of people nowadays have names without meanings, or with meanings they don't even know about. And even when they do know them, the meaning often isn't much of a factor in choosing the name, except perhaps to reject certain names. So I don't see anything wrong with naming a son simply "Tom" - I know plenty of people with that name, and that name alone.
It's a nice level of flexibility and I like the increased flexibility that Slavic languages have. I've been Tomik and Tomasik to Russian friends and cannot tell you how many permutations on names I've used for Russian friends' names.
Yeah, I saw a bit of that during my aforementioned stay in Poland, the different permutations. It is kind of neat.
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
399 Views
My answer.
- 23/03/2011 05:14:54 AM
1027 Views
Oh prude! 12 would have been a much sexier answer *NM*
- 23/03/2011 05:19:45 AM
1355 Views
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
466 Views
Darn!
- 23/03/2011 05:44:33 AM
994 Views
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
926 Views
Why?
- 23/03/2011 03:15:23 PM
859 Views
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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- 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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- 27/03/2011 05:13:14 AM
1074 Views
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
734 Views
- 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
1114 Views
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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- 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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For a lot of people it is.
- 26/03/2011 04:52:57 PM
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- 26/03/2011 04:52:57 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
734 Views
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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- 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
910 Views
I guess I haven't gone the apostle route
- 24/03/2011 01:48:48 PM
832 Views
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
866 Views
I had no idea!
- 26/03/2011 04:28:06 PM
880 Views
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
794 Views
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
444 Views
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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*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
806 Views

*MN*
*NM*