A rose by any other name

Unlike some families, my immediate family isn’t big on nicknames. We usually call each other by our first names or by words that label our relationships. I went through a period of calling Polina - cousin (but it has to be done in Allan Rickman’s Sheriff of Nottingham style) and everyone else (including her now husband) followed suit until it reach ridiculous stage of people new to our circle being unable to recall her real name. I used to call my sister маленький (little one) and she would reply with большой (big one), but now she and I call each other маленький (little one)/ большой (big one) interchangeably depending on who says маленький (little one) first. During my childhood, when Polina used to spend summers with us, we ended up calling ourselves три корочки хлеба (three bread crusts) – sadly I can’t remember how it came about, I only know that it is a references to a movie Буратино (Russian version of Pinocchio). Polina and Anya used to call me Заяц (rabbit/bunny), as I used to love bunnies and the word looks similar to my name Зоя.

So my point is that I never was truly imaginative when it came to nicknames and I really struggle to come up with them now. So when I needed a new chat name I agonized for ages trying to think of something simple and likeable. At the time I had plenty of African violets growing in my flat (surprisingly they were the only household plants that consistently survived my neglectful attitude to “gardening”) and I thought that Violet will be a good screen name, but I didn’t want people to think it was my real name. At the time I also loved colour purple – фиолетовый (fioletovii) in Russian. And so I combined the two words to get Fioleta.

Eugene, I hope this answers your question.