I knew a guy in high school who went by “Ivy,” which I assumed was his real name. It wasn’t until he graduated that I saw his name in the program and realized that he was Something Something IV, which was where his nickname came from. I actually thought “Ivy” was a pretty cool nickname.

My high school Latin teacher still calls me “Stella” when she sees me. I graduated from high school fifteen years ago.

My Mandarin classmates and I still routinely refer to one another by our Chinese names. There’s a definite WTF factor seeing a couple of white people going, “Oh, hey 爱丽, what’s up?” “Not much, 国庆, you?” but after nine months spending every day together and using those names, that’s what feels “normal.”

You should go by what you like. I think “Bridy” is also a nickname for Bridget, isn’t it?

That's totally reasonable. You should switch if you don't feel like that's what fits. Although if you then try to go back to Bridget at some point a year or two from now, you could have a hard time getting people to do it all again.

You’ll have to be stubborn if you want the change to stick. If you don’t force people to change, they’ll get lazy and revert to the old name. I really like “Bridget,” for whatever that's worth, but people should be called what they want to be called.

No, but she was basically going by a nickname- she never legally changed her full birth name, which she liked okay, anyway. I think she actually had an easier time getting her colleagues to call her by the right name than her family, because it was so ingrained with her siblings and mother.

The issue with Chinese names (and I suspect Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian, too, though I don’t know) isn’t the pronunciation, it’s the tones. Westerners who haven’t studied Mandarin have no idea how to pronounce the different tones, and as I discovered taking classes with someone who’s literally tone deaf, they can’t…

My mom actually did this! Given name Kathleen, grew up being called Kathy, which she hated, and wanted to switch to Kate. She basically told everyone at Christmas one year to call her Kate and stayed diligent about reminding people. After a while, she wouldn't answer unless she was addressed as Kate. That was probably…

If you give the kid the more formal name and shorten it, that gives the kid more flexibility with what they’re called as they get older. “Mikey” is fine for a little kids but a forty-year-old attorney might prefer Michael or Mike. If “Mikey” or “Susie” is what's on their birth certificate, they're pretty much stuck…

I have names in multiple languages. One in Mandarin, since my English name doesn't translate at all- I was assigned that one by my teacher, and she must have done a good job, since I get a lot of compliments from Chinese folks. Then when I converted to Judaism, I got to pick a Hebrew name, which was surprisingly…

Depending on the country where this is taking place, it could be a cultural thing. In some places, it’s pretty normal to change or add to your name for better fortune or to adopt nicknames. When I started studying Mandarin, I was given a Chinese name, since Western names don’t translate well. I could have changed the…

“Saving me having to type all of that on my phone,” is what that should have said. Though the autocorrect kind of makes my point for me.

Thank you! I get so tired of constantly having to explain this any time something related to Judaism comes up here or elsewhere online. No one would expect Southern Baptists and Episcopalians to share views on... well, almost anything except the very basics of Christian theology. Why do they assume that all Jews are…

It depends a lot on the denomination (and even within denominations, on the synagogue, rabbi, et cetera). Orthodox synagogues are generally much more socially conservative than either are for or Conservative shuls.

Don’t worry, she’ll probably wind up a blue dog Democrat before another five years go by. That much common sense can’t survive the current direction of the GOP.

I was told that the Golf I ordered last month was being built in the States (Chattanooga, maybe?).

So here's a dumb neophyte question from someone with a 2016 Golf TDI on order. The 2016s (and 2015s, I think) have the urea additive system. Does this mean that they'll be capable of getting the 40+ MPG gas mileage, or no? I literally looked at the Golf and a Prius, and now I'm feeling pretty stupid. Ugh.

I'm wondering the same thing. Wouldn't this have resolved the emissions issue?

I just ordered a 2016 Golf TDI about a month ago- it’s supposed to be delivered when I get back to the states. Now I’m concerned about whether I’ll actually be able to get it registered and emissions tested, never mind the issue of resale value. Although it's nice to see all of these TDI owners talks no about how much…