7.02.2012

Guinea pig nicknames

Our humans don't always call us guinea pigs by our given names. More often than not they refer to us by one of several ridiculous nicknames, which vary in expressing affection or consternation. This has led to bewildered vets, mixed up records and in Belka's case, a minor case of identity crisis as she is officially known as Nutmeg.

Each of us has our own embarrassing set of monikers.

Nutmeg:
  • Belka (Russian for "squirrel", since she resembled a little brown squirrel in looks and certain mannerisms when adopted as a baby. Since plumping up and becoming more socialized, she has lost some of these squirrel-like attributes.)
  • Belkochka (Russian diminutive for "belka")
  • Butter pig (because even when within someone's grasp, she manages to slip through their fingers to evade capture. Similar to the term "butterfingers")
  • Squirmy bu gger (due to her refusal to stop wriggling and floundering about when picked up, making her difficult to hold)

Truffle:
  • Truffle-ruffle (a reference to her crest - unlike an abby, she boasts only one ruffled rosette instead of several)
  • Troofle 
  • TRUFF! (used whenever Truffle is in a poor mood and has decided to harass/chase other pigs around the cage, usually Peaches)

Peaches:
  • Peachy
  • Peachy-peach
  • PEACH! (frequently used when misbehaving)
  • Peachy dog (used when she sits back on her haunches and stands tall on her front paws with eyes wide open while scanning the area, similar to a watchdog on alert. Typically happens after she has been startled)
  • Sweet peach (term used in particularly cute moments)

Poof:
  • Poofy
  • Poofy-poof (general term of endearment, also used when her fur is especially puffed up)
  • Poofy-woofy (utilized whenever she is being a silly pig)

Revy:
  • Panda (black and white fur, deceivingly cuddly outward appearance)
  • Pandachka  (Russian diminutive for "panda")
  • Tubbo/Chubbo (a reference to her tubby tummy and chunky build)
  • Phantom of the Pigloo (describes the white mask that covers part of her face)
  • Sugar pig (has a massive sweet tooth, will sample any new fruits without hesitation)
  • Fussbucket (similar to "fussbudget", except with enough piggy attitude to fill an entire bucket)

Abby-Roo:
  • Roo (used when humans are too lazy to pronounce her full three syllable name)
  • Fluffy-Roo (when said pig seems to be having a bad hair day)
  • Tofu (apparently this is less confusing for vets and their receptionists to understand)
  • Abby-poo (because she produces tiny baby sized poops)
  • Birdie (due to her frequent high pitched squeals, which sound uncannily similar to bird calls. This can be quite misleading when actual birds are chirping outdoors as our slaves end up thinking that she is wheeking for food all the time)


When greeting all of us at once or calling us for dinner we are typically addressed as:
  • Peegs
  • Peeeeeeeegy peegs!
  • Gui gui (pronounced "gwee")
  • Fussy butts
  • Girls (all of us are sows)

Have any interesting or unusual nicknames for your pigs? Feel free to share them, we'd love to hear how they came about!

8 comments:

  1. Boomer:
    Boomzilla
    Boom Boom
    My little angel

    Starbuck:
    Buckminsterfullerene (twin is a chemist).
    Bucky
    Angel Face (she has the face of an angel but is a little devil)

    Harry:
    The still point in our turning world (watch your Spooks).
    Sir Henry James Pearce KBE(when he is being naughty)

    Woody:
    Mr Woody
    Mighty Big Red
    Otter boy

    Collectively, they are my horrors and my peegs.

    I love the nicknames of your girls, especially Phantom of the pigloo.

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  2. Bertie:
    Bertie of the Star Toes
    Bert
    Bertram
    Dope on a Rope
    The Mope

    Pinniped:
    Pinni
    The Pinster
    Big Pig
    She's also referred to as the Fat Blob. (Squeeze it!)

    Collectively the used to be The Newbies, but now I just call them The Girls. Or my rotten rodents. Depends how bad they're being....

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  3. When playing with our piggies Annie and Oreo, all of us humans have a habit of pronouncing their names with an exaggerated British accent. Our poor piggies!

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  5. Every pig needs a nickname, even if they don't agree! I love your names; Phantom of the Pigloo is probably also my favorite, but I like them all :)

    I have 3 girls:

    Jaina (jay-nuh):
    Little Peanut
    Sweety pig (sweetest temperament and a massive sweet tooth)

    Wendy:
    Princess
    Diva pig (she always has to have her way, and head-butts anything she gets mad at)
    Wendy Williams (due to her long hair and penchant for tossing her hair back and forth like the talk show host)


    Fergie:
    The Ferg
    Monkey
    Monkey toes (she climbs on EVERYTHING and I sometimes find her standing on top of the thatch tunnels!)
    Pups (she sits back on her rump with head cocked to the side like a dog and often "barks"...not sure where she learned it from)

    Collectively referred to as Naughty Pigs, The Girls, or The Princesses.

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  6. Mopsy, Buckminsterfullerene is hilarious (imagine trying to spell that out to a vet). I can see that Sir Harry is one furry piggy sized homage to Spooks.

    PaintedThread, Dope on a Rope and Fat Blob made me laugh. "Rotten rodents" is very appropriate for misbehaving pigs.

    Glaze I'm sure they won't mind as long as food is involved :)

    Lora, those are cute - glad to see that I'm not the only one nicknaming after other animals. Peanut is an adorable piggy name, wish I had thought of that the last time I was trying to come up with names!

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  7. My 2 yo DS cannot pronounce our 2 piggies names, Brioche and Clover. He is quite infatuated with them though so they are used to being referred to as Breesh and Clove.

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