Formal

” Hey knackers, throw it over here . Thanks buddy . “Ah , my name’s not natters it’s Steven . “Cool , Stevo ” ” No it’s Steven ” “Ok Steve “. “Steven !”…..Thankyou Steven . ” Hi , I’m Troy , I’m Leroy’s Dad ” “Hi …Anne Kennedy ” ” Hi Anne , how are you?” ” I’m fine and yourself and it is just Troy ? ” ” That’s it ” I’m in the supermarket and a guy stops to ask me if I know where a certain brand of chips are . I tell him I’ve got no clue . He stops and realises there’s an accent . ” Are you from England ?” “No mate , I’m Australian . That’s like me asking if you’re from Canada ” “Oh , you’re an osssie , how cool ” I nod my head and shrug my shoulders . “Do you live here ” , he asks . “”Yes I do , anyway I’m Troy ” “Pleasure to meet you Troy I’m John Delamano the second ” …….” Ahh please to meet you John “, he pauses for a couple of seconds and then smiles . You briefly see his brain ticking over at my reply to his name . You seeing the trend . They take their names seriously , no nicknames , no shortened versions , it’s all official . You’re last name is almost never used in a shortened fashion as a nick name . There’s a really nice guy by the name of John Mark . After calling him John or even slipping in JM over the first 6 months he has corrected me so often that it has to be John Mark . They don’t get offended , actually they hate confrontation but they’re not loose with their name . Stiffness , almost awkward , it’s the American way .