I Love The English But ....

[Lachlan09]

My name, Lachlan, was a source of wonderment when I lived in London.

As well as being said in imaginative ways, it was often written in curious ways too. The most common was Lacklan, but Locklan was a close second (also Aussies said that way, often shortened to Lockie). My given nickname was Lack. Other versions of my name included Lackland, Locklin, whilst some, especially one company partner, made great efforts to say Lachlan (good on him !). I remember another partner, who came from South London, remonstrating with a colleague who called me Locklin. My boss said to him in his Ray Winstone accent “It’s not Locklin, it’s Lacklan”

Mind you, you could depend on the Dutch to get it right. They said it with a good ch sound, tending to put the accent on the 2nd syllable – Lach-LAN.

Having said that, as a kid in Musselburgh and later, starting to work in Edinburgh, I used to get frustrated that fellow Scots couldn’t say ch and used to called me Lacklan or Lackie. I'd have to say that Glasgow always said it right.

But looking back, I’m not bothered.

I used to like Essex nicknames like my pal Mike’s (Mick) friends and sister had. There was Terry, who was Tel, another pal was Gary or Gal and his sister Karen was Kal. I reckoned my nickname was Lal.