Okay to use someone's nickname at work?

[The Fall Guy]

Is it okay to use someone's nickname at work if you haven't been given permission to do so?

 

[GuusVA]

Well I work together with a friend and out of work we have these moments where we can goof of really good but at work we try to remain more serious because it's work. So I try to avoid using people's nickname's at work because it might get him into trouble. Plus around customers it's better to use full name's.

So without permission I would definitely not do it. With permission I might just give it a thought.

Just my opinion.

 

[psalms 91]

Depends on the workplace and who the customers are, many times it probably would be ok

 

[Lamb]

So I try to avoid using people's nickname's at work because it might get him into trouble.

Now you made me curious as to what type of nicknames these people might have! LOL

 

[tango]

Is it okay to use someone's nickname at work if you haven't been given permission to do so?

I guess context is everything.

If you're in a customer facing role and a friend of yours comes in it might be perfectly acceptable to use their nickname if it were a purely affectionate name. If someone's nickname is Noodles or Fonz or some such it's unlikely to cause any problems. If someone has the kind of nickname that's embarrassing or offensive to others I wouldn't be too quick to use it in public, particularly if other customers were present.

If you're talking about a coworker I'd say the context is still critical. Ultimately at work you need to stay professional, and if using a nickname means being unprofessional then don't use it.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

I think its okay. I don't mind if people use my nickname. {Krissy Cakes}

 

[Lamb]

I go by my proper name and nickname evenly. They aren't that different but people at work don't want to call me by the wrong name so they're always asking which to use.

 

[psalms 91]

I think either is acceptable

 

[Josiah]

I tend to be rather formal..... and if I "sin," it will be on being too polite. Most I work with have Ph.D's and so I ALWAYS call them "Doctor _________" (their last name). UNLESS they specifically say to me,"Please call me ___________" and even then, I'd never call them that outside a very informal setting; for example, if I'm writing to a colleague, I'd never use his/her first name (much less nickname).

I'm SURE this has MUCH to do with the culture of the workplace..... there is no universal rule here. That said, I think it's much better for a colleague to say "Please call me __________" than for him/her to feel slighted or offended by informalities and first names.



Just my half cent.



- Josiah

 

[Rens]

I guess context is everything.

If you're in a customer facing role and a friend of yours comes in it might be perfectly acceptable to use their nickname if it were a purely affectionate name. If someone's nickname is Noodles or Fonz or some such it's unlikely to cause any problems. If someone has the kind of nickname that's embarrassing or offensive to others I wouldn't be too quick to use it in public, particularly if other customers were present.

If you're talking about a coworker I'd say the context is still critical. Ultimately at work you need to stay professional, and if using a nickname means being unprofessional then don't use it.

At the end of the day you could say: toodles Noodles!
Hey Fonzie!!! Eyyy...
Lol I wouldn't do it, well, try not to do it.
My ex was a pastor and I had this nickname for him. He's very neat and tidy so I called him Noenoe, like the vacuum cleaner of the Teletubbies. And then sometimes I'd forget and use that name when people from church were over. Oh those faces. I remember my kid when he was 1 would call him:
Noenoe! Noenoe! Funny.

 

[Lamb]

NoeNoe! That's funny!

I'd tell a story about my husband's nickname his friends gave him but his real name is part of it so I'll decline. I used it at work once though and like you, I got the weird looks LOL I thought it was hilarious though.

We have a 20 something new Admin and he called a few of the guys "Mr...last name" and one of the guys told me about it and thought that the young guy considered him really old to be addressing him in that manner. He didn't care for that

 

[Josiah]

I'm twenty-something and I ALWAYS refer to folks at work formally: DR ______________, MR ______________. I do that regardless of their position (the tech guys, janitors, etc.) I figure, IF they want me to refer to them differently, they will state, "Please call me ____________." Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. If one errs, I figure it's better to do so on the side of respect.





.

 

[Josiah]

GUYS in the USA have this unusual thing about taking first names and making a one-syllable nick name out of it. Jonathan becomes Jon. Robert becomes Rob (or Bob). Timothy becomes Tim. Joshua becomes Josh. My name is Josiah. I like my name. And I ALWAYS use it. But many (maybe even most) of the guy friends in my life - for as long as I can remember - make it Joe. Actually, Joe is short for Joseph NOT Josiah. I let it pass..... I never correct it..... but I'm not keen on it. I let it pass because I understand the cultural thing behind it and realize no offense or disrespect is intended.....


- JOSIAH

 

[Lamb]

I'm twenty-something and I ALWAYS refer to folks at work formally: DR ______________, MR ______________. I do that regardless of their position (the tech guys, janitors, etc.) I figure, IF they want me to refer to them differently, they will state, "Please call me ____________." Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. If one errs, I figure it's better to do so on the side of respect.





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In the office I'm at it just makes people uncomfortable since they consider one another to be peers. Even though managers make more money and have a bit more say in the matter, we're all a team and that's stressed greatly.

 

[tango]

In the office I'm at it just makes people uncomfortable since they consider one another to be peers. Even though managers make more money and have a bit more say in the matter, we're all a team and that's stressed greatly.

I think the only time I've called someone "Mr xxx" in a professional context is either when being interviewed, when it doesn't hurt to be as formal as possible, or when working with Japanese executives who only use their first names when they really get to know you. Even then the Japanese custom was to use the surname with -san as a prefix. So if you were to address the person we'd call Mr Kawasaki, you'd call him Kawasaki-san. I worked for a Japanese firm for nearly three years and towards the end of my time there only one of the Japanese guys used his first name when talking to me. When talking to him I used an abbreviated form of his surname to maintain some respect while being less formal.