Apelidos

[Pavio]

So, last April, I went to the Canto do Galo batizado in Denver. It was my first, and during my trip I received my first chord and an apelido. It was given to me by Mestre Ra and Mestre Acordeon when I was thanking them for the great weekend I had. The name they gave me was "Pavio", and a friend of mine said that it was an old term, and that if I wanted a translation that I should ask a Brazilian adult. So I confronted an acquaintance of mine and asked them what Pavio meant. She said, "It's like a wick or a short fuse." I thought it was a pretty cool name, and I was finally happy to have an apelido. So, recently, a capoeirista from another grupo joined up with us. I told him my name, and he got a strange look on his face. He looked at me and said, "A wick? Um...make sure that you didn't get one of the apelidos with a double-meaning." His words got me thinking about my name, and I realized that I didn't even really know why I was named Pavio. So I looked it up online tonight, and it doesn't mean fuse. My friend was right, it means wick in Portuguese. Now that was fine with me, until I scrolled down the page and it said something about how there was an old saying that goes "to dip one's wick" means to have sex. And then it said that the saying comes from some book known as "Hampton Wick", which is rhyming slang for "prick". Now I'm not sure if that was Mestre Acordeon's intention, but if it was, I would like to know what in the world I did to get a name that could potentially mean "prick", considering I kept to myself most of the time and tried to be as respectful as I could be.

[areia]

Hi there Pavio, dont get frustrated bout apelidos :) if ur lucky, it wont stick for a lifetime.. but i think every apelido have special meanings to the one who gave it and to the one who receive it (sorry, my english sux).. and i believe Mestre Ra and Mestre Acordeon have no negative intentions when they gave u that apelido. one of my friend from another grupos apelido is 'pauzao' (dunno how to write it actually) u can search it online if u want to :p his friends translate it as 'wood' bcos his body was as stiff as wood.. but after few years (it took years!!) we found out.. well.. our mestre told us (with strange look on his face too) that pauzao is not stiff wood... but 'something' stiff.. jajajaja... and if i not mistaken, Mestre Gato change his apelido to 'Madeira' about a year ago..
my apelido was a mistake too.. Mestre Itabora wants to gave me apelido based on my boyfriends.. unfortunately, ho got the wrong boy.. jajajajajaja... in my last batizado, i work with a guy named pedrinha (little rock) and mestre tot that he was my boyfriend. and my real boyfriends apelido is ourico (sea urchin). LoL.. but i like my apelido so much!! just dont regret it :)
btw, did u ask the Mestres why they gave u that apelido?

[Jasmim]

From what I hear apelidos are usually supposed to be making fun of you a little...so if you don't get the joke, you should definitely ask the one who gave you the name! In my group there's a girl named Acanhada because she acts so shy, even in the roda. And there's a guy named Seguridade (sp?) because he always stands around with his arms crossed like a security guard. It's all good-natured fun.

[Bolinha]

I actually agree with Jasmim... right now you might be asking yourself left and right to why you received the apelido "Pavio" but you know what...I'm pretty sure slowly you will grow into your name. Work your apelido, so it becomes a positive thing.....you make your apelido's definition... :)

If it makes you feel any better, my name will always mean "little ball"...and there are times where i picture a small red plastic ball just there...in the middle of the roda...

....doing nothing... LOL!

[Pipoca]

My Estagario had the class pick our apelidos. Mine is Pipoca, becasue of my real last name. In fact I've been "popcorn man" since I was a kid and the fact that it followed me into Capoeira is pretty cool.

I understand your frustration because I used to hate that nickname. Popcorn?! "How odd", I'd think. But In my later years I've not only embraced it but come to love it and write it on EVERYTHING I own. lol I agree with what Bolinha said. WORK it for YOUR own purposes. Screw what anyone else thinks! lol

[Pipoca]

it might help to explain...my last name is Fehrenbacher...looks like Redenbacher...hence popcorn=Pipoca.

[Pavio]

Nice. My last name is Wicks so it kind of fits.

[Pavio]

Well guys, I've finally grown accustomed to my apelido. I actually like it alot.

I also remember how I got the name. I was in the workshop for the capoeiristas without any chords, and we were working on one of Mestre Ra's sequences (he was teaching the class). I couldn't find a partner, so I approached a young woman that was standing at the head of the group. I introduced myself and then we began working on the sequence together. During this process, Mestre Ra kept on giving me intimidating looks. When it came time for us to demonstrate the sequence, Mestre Ra stopped our performance, grabbed me and said, "That is MY girlfriend!" I tried to apologize but he just kept on bothering me about it. So I got a bit frustrated and ignored him, and continued the demonstration. I know I got the name Pavio from this event, but also from the fact that I'm a bit impulsive.

However, I would like a different name at one point, one that traces itself back to my heritage.

[Bolinha]

Hmmm...I dunno if you can choose or pick your name...but in the meantime, enjoy the one you have. Cos there are some people that have done capoeira for a long time and still have not received a nickname :)

[Pavio]

Come to think about it, I don't think it is an option. Oh well, my name is fine with me. (I mean, since it sort of pertains to my last name, I could never truly escape it even if I didn't like it). But I've definitely grown to appreciate it. I mean, especially since some people get really terrible names. Like this one guy got a name that translated to "Tossed Salad" because his teacher thought he was a simply horrid capoeirista. I'm glad that wasn't me.

I'd say the one thing that is priceless about having the name Pavio is that everyone thinks your name is "Pavo" or turkey.

[areia]

wahahahahahaha....
so u realize the reason why u named pavio? agree with jasmim and bolinha :) apelidos always have funny even stupid stories. im proud because i have story behind my apelido...
theres one day.. my mestre giving apelidos to a lot of people in our group.. well, he made a theme for the day.. the theme was animal then the day after was fruit... so, there's a lot of fruits and animals in my grupo, without story behind it.. hehehehe..

[Pavio]

So what is the story behind your name?

[Leão]

Well, shucks... I got to pick my name, kinda like Areia with fruits and animals one of my other capoeiras asked me if I liked any animals. (Though, my name was almost Gacela because of how I'll sometimes run.) No one in my first group (when I "was named") has seen the picture I'm named from. (If that last sentence makes grammatical sense [I also like parenthetical statements], I sure hope it does.) But also, my name has changed slightly since then, as well... I named myself "Leão Sozinho" because I walked alone - all my American friends spent time with each other while I was outside of their group and I was also the only American (at the time) training in this capoeira school. So when I joined up with my current teacher(s), they changed it, because I'd have a group to walk with. My name changed from Leão Sozinho to 'Só' Leão - 'just' Lion. (But this group has seen this picture... And if -you- want to see it, you'll have to come visit me.) I told my teachers that if there was a different name that would fit me better, that we should change it; but all I've done is earn new names - Gato (my preference: Gatinho Morte) when I couldn't keep up with class, Boca Grande because I'd talk often and try to bring more people to class, Boa Gente because I picked up a hitch-hiker (and that story will take more than this 'little' 'response'), and Cae Sozinho because I fell all by myself in the roda at my second first batizado.