ODIE

About twenty years ago while visiting with my mother she referred to me as “Odie.”  Of course, I asked her why she called me “Odie.”  This was her response as I remember it: 

When Marilyn (my youngest sister) was learning to talk she could not pronounce Richard, so she said Odie.  For a while she always called you Odie and so did some of the rest of us in the family. I was just remembering that when I called you by that name.

I have remembered what my mother told me and often think of that name and smile.  In fact, it has become for me something of a code to myself in helping me to remember things.

About three years ago when visiting with Marilyn (she is six years younger than I am), I told her about what our mother had told me.  Of course, she did not remember anything about that period in our lives, nor did I.  In fact, Marilyn seemed somewhat embarrassed that there was a time in her life that she could not say the name, “Richard.”  She really doubted that what I was saying was true, so I said no more to her about it.

Just today I did a Google search for the name and found this: 

Odie\o-die\ as a boy’s name is of Old English origin, and the meaning of Odie is “woad hill”.  Odie is a variant of Odell (Old English); woad is a blue dye supposedly used by ancient Druids in their religious rites.

BUT, another meaning of the name Odie when used as a slang name means:  “An immensely slow minded person who never does anything right.”

NOW, I am worried.  A cute little name that I thought was endearingly uttered by my baby sister and later used by my mother to refer to me.  Since my mother was very good at crossword puzzles, she very likely knew the slang meaning of the name “Odie.”  So, her calling me by that name at that time may have been more than a cute remembrance!