Hi Steemit! My name is Maine, but here in Steemit, I am known as @chinitacharmer. But what's with the name?
When I joined Steemit, I have no idea that it is a blogging platform. I was only told by my good friend @fukumineko that I can earn just by commenting and posting, but she did not specify what needs to be posted. So I was imagining it to be like Facebook or Twitter. Hence, I signed up for Steemit without really thinking about what username to use.
I first used @chinitacharmer for my Instagram account. It is a combination of two words chinita and charmer. I didn't have the time to think of a Steemit username when I signed up for it, so I just utilized what I already have.
For my fellow Filipinos, it is easy to understand why I included the word chinita in my username. But I will provide a brief background about this term for those who don't know what it means.
Chinita is a Spanish word for "Asian girl", which actually suits me as I am Asian and a female.
But here in my country, the Philippines, chinita means someone with "chinky" or smaller eyes, similar to the eyes of Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. And since I have chinky eyes, people usually call me a chinita.
I am very proud of my Asian and Filipino heritage. And even though the word chinita is being used by other nations in derogatory situations, I am still proud that I am a chinita "an Asian girl" with small yet tantalizing eyes! :)
I could have settled for chinita, but I felt like it's too short and common for an Instagram username. So, I added the word charmer. But before I will explain why I chose this word, I would have to mention this -- I go by several names, and by that, I mean different people call me differently depending on my affiliation with them.
My family and closest friends (best friends and childhood friends) call me by my real nickname MinMin. It's funny how in our country we are so fond of using reduplication to form nicknames. As a matter of fact, in our family, most of our nicknames are formed through this word formation process.
Reduplication consists in the repetition of all or of part of a root or stem to form new words. If the entire root or stem is repeated, the process is called complete (or total) reduplication, and the new word is considered as a repetitive compound.Source
To give you some examples -- my son's nickname is Jamjam, we call my brother Boyboy, my niece is known as Langlang, and my nephew is Doydoy! Lol. I also have several friends who have repeated names: Janjan, Longlong, Vanvan, Kakay, Letlet, Dandan and here in Steemit I'm a friend of @cheche016. The list could go on! (Sorry for including this, I just find it really funny! :D)
When I was in college I worked as a call center agent for almost three years. There, I was called Loise. So whenever somebody calls me Loise, I know that we used to work together in the call center.
I was also a virtual assistant, and I have had several teammates who call me CL!
And right now, at my current work and here in Steemit, I am known as Maine.
But why did I mention these things? Lol. I swear you can find sense in them. :D
Needless to say, my real name is Charmaine Loise. From this long name that I have, my family, friends, and acquaintances have formulated several names to call me.
- MinMin - This was taken from my full name Charmaine, and was formed through clipping. In this case, Char was clipped, retaining Maine. Letters A and E were also removed, forming Min. And since Filipinos like reduplication, hence the nickname Min-Min.
Clipping is the process whereby new words are formed by shortening other words by eliminating the initial part, the last part, or both parts, of those words."Source
Loise - obviously from my second name Loise
CL - Taken from the initials of my first and second name.
Maine - Also formed through clipping. Char was taken out, and Maine was therefore formed.
So since I am talking about word formations -- reduplication and clipping, I will introduce another process of word formation called compounding, which is the process I used to form my username.
Compounding consists in the combination of two or more (usually free) roots to form a new word. Source
In the case of my username, I combined the words chinita and charmer. The new word is then formed as chinitacharmer.
I have already explained why I chose chinita, and this time I will tackle about the second word that I used -- charmer.
As I am a Linguistics graduate, I like things like etymology and conjugations. So I thought about using a part of my name for my username. This was when I was able to get the word charmer from my real name. I used the word formation process called clipping which I already explained above. I removed this part of my name "aine", retaining the word Charm and then I conjugated (made it into a noun) it by adding the suffix --er forming the word charmer. :)
In addition, according to Collins dictionary, charmer means "a delightful, fascinating, or attractive person". Another meaning from Cambridge dictionary says "a person who has good qualities that make you like them."
I believe I possess the attributes being mentioned above. I was raised by a wonderful woman who has taught me so much in life and inculcated me with good values. I have also hurdled so many challenges in life that made me a woman of strength and determination. In my own ways, I believe I am a charmer. :)
In conclusion, my username @chinitacharmer was formed through a word formation process called compounding, joining the two words chinita which means an Asian girl with chinky eyes and charmer which means a delightful person.
At first, I thought it was a funny name, but it turned out to be a pretty nice name with a pretty good meaning and story behind it! :)
So what is my name? My name is @chinitacharmer. And I wouldn't trade it for the world!
Image chinita
Image charming woman
This is my entry to My Name is What? A Writing Contest by @steemitachievers in which I had so much fun doing!
It's your time to do the challenge: @fukumineko, @tadahe, @dreamerwideawake, @pinay, @jazzhero, @valerie15, @cheche016, @carlultima, @jameralim11, @amvvicious. You still have two days to do it! :)
Nice story behind your username and yes charmer give extra charm to chinita
Awww thank you sir Birju! ππ
well most certainly you charmed this Chinito :P hahahahha
Ayeee, at kinilig naman din ako! Ahahaha! π
May ganito palang lampungan dito. Nyahahahahaha!
My ghad, you two, get a room!
I knooowwww... I'm 23 days late.
Hahahaha! Better late than never besh
ππ€£
Your mother probably was wonderful. Love your photo. Beautiful. Lovely eyes. What does Chinita mean? You are a charmer and you have a spark in your eyes. Thanks for sharing. I'm Oatmeal Joey Arnold. Happy Easter 2018.
Aw thank u so much Joey! The meaning is explained above! π
Asian Girl.
Hello Chinita ππΌ π
Hi. Lol ππ€£
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