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This is an alphabetical list of nicknames used by update writers in their daily or weekly updates of Coronation Street episodes and in the newsgroup rec.arts.tv.uk.coronation-st. It is built on the origin of an earlier list maintained by Graham Allsopp and I thank him for the work he began. Graham very appropriately quoted George Middleton in his original introduction as saying, "All groups have their jargon. It defines membership and gives yer a nice warm feeling".
I have collected these as a guide to newer or infrequent update readers or r.a.t.u.c.s participants. None of these nicknames were originated by me; I take no credit (or blame!) for the nicknames themselves, nor do I necessarily endorse all of them. I do, however, take full responsibility for typos or errors on this page.
If you can help me with assigning credit, correcting errors, or anything else, you can contact me at ronniecat at hotmail dot com .
Action Man Michael -
Michael Wall, Jim MacDonald's physio-therapist, action-figure
extraordinaire! Fully posable! He can do anything, including seducing
his patients' lovers! (Each action figure sold separately. Accessories
sold separately. Batteries not included. Void where prohibited
by law. Action Man International (tm) takes no responsibility
for emotional distress or marital strife which may result from
inappropriate use of Action Man Michael.) Originated by our very
own Rattler, Chris Lines.
Alfeh -
Alf Roberts. Phonetic spelling introduced by Update God Paul Baker.
Audreh -
Audrey Roberts. Phonetic spelling also given us by Paul Baker.
Babeh Kateh -
Baby Katy, also known as Shannon Jade, Zoe Tattersall's late daughter.
Phonetic spelling introduced by the legendary Mike Plowman.
The BRW -
See The Big Red Wig. Also born of the mind
of Paul Baker.
Big Red Spice -
Rita Sullivan.
See The Big Red Wig with a touch
of current Spicegirl pop culture thrown in.
The Big Red Wig -
Rita Sullivan,
for her impressive hair. So dubbed by the legendary original updater,
Paul Baker.
Blandford -
Greg Kelly, because he is, well, bland. Creatively baptised by
Mike Plowman.
The Camel -
Gail Platt, for her interesting chin. Paul Calter so dubbed Gail.
The Cardassian -
Deirdre Rachid.
Cardassians are a Star Trek species with very well-developed and
prominent neck muscles. Katherine Burgess first noticed the resemblance
and coined the nickname.
Chester -
Don Brennan.
Probably dubbed as such after Matt Dillon's sideckick on the tv
series Gunsmoke because of his artificial leg. A Paul Calter contribution.
Dreary -
Deirdre Rachid,
for the seemingly never-ending misery in her life, and because
the updaters find it SO MUCH easier to type than Dierdre. Introduced
in the updates by Paul Baker but has also appeared in tabloid
articles referring to the character.
Fee -
Simply short for Fiona, and spelled the way many Street characters
pronounce it.
Fi -
Short for Fiona. Prounounced "fee".
Fred, I say, Fred -
Fred Elliott,
so called for his habit of saying everything twice with an "I
say," in the middle.
Frizzie Lizzie -
Liz McDonald, for her often wild hair and bad perms.
Gareh -
Gary Mallett. Phonetic spelling from Phonetic King Mike Plowman.
Goggle Eyes -
Steve McDonald. Should be self-evident.
The Gold Blend Couple -
Des Barnes
& Claire Palmer.
"In the UK," explains Graham Allsopp, "there are
a series of stomach-churning (a bit like the so-called coffee)
coffee ads with a sickening couple who conducted and consumated
an affair built around cups of Nestlé's Gold Blend 'coffee'
(and I am being serious here). When Des was trailing round
Claire like a puppy dog and gazed lovingly into her eyes, it was
horrifically close to these ads." It was Paul Baker who first
noticed the distinct resemblance and coined the nickname. A similar
series featuring Taster's Choice Coffee aired in the US and Canada.
Gruesome Greg -
Greg Kelly, alleged "heartthrob", r.a.t.u.c.s nausea-inducer.
The gurls -
Rosie and Sophie Webster, who are referred to as such by their
parents, Sally and Kevin. (Usually when being directed to go wash
their hands so their parents can have an argument "without
them hearing". The Webster bathroom, one presumes, is built
like a bank vault.) Sometimes spelled with more than one u, r,
or l (as in "the gurrrls").
Hamburger -
McDonald (as in the international hamburger chain). Might refer,
for example, to "over at the Hamburgers' ", "Liz
Hamburger" or "Jim Hamburger".
Jelly Belly -
Kelly Thomson.
Kelly was a lady of generous proportions, an attribute much appreciated
by certain ratucs regulars and updaters. Paul Baker is responsible
for this one too.
Judeh -
Judy Mallett. Phonetic spelling. Mike Plowman, of course.
La Mouton -
Liz McDonald, described as "sheep in lamb's clothing"or
"mutton dressed as lamb"for her, um, rather young
choice of attire. Graham Allsopp and Di Fishman share credit for
this creative sobriquet.
Lama the Misspelling -
Alma Baldwin, who became Lama after a misspelling of her name
by Alan Milewczyk, who liked the look of it.
MadAnne -
Anne Malone, who apparently went totally stark raving looney towards
the end of her twisted life, trying to set up Curley in a blackmail
plot and then dying an icy death in Freshco's freezer while now
trying to cast the blame for the extortion attempt on St. Alma
of Baldwin.
The Mave -
The inimitable Mavis Wilton. The nickname was originated by the
inimitable original episode updater Paul Baker.
Maxime -
Maxine,
pronounced the way Ashley Peacock pronounced it when they were
an item.
Midrift Maxine -
Vickie McDonald's (nee Arden) dismissal of Maxine
Heavey, presumably for Maxine's penchant for showing hers.
See Sticky Vicky for more.
Mrs. Mutton -
Liz McDonald. See La Mouton. So dubbed by Mike
Plowman.
Muppets, The -
Maxine Heavey
and Fiona Middleton (Muppet 1 and Muppet 2 respectively). Mike
Plowman, who originated the nickname, declares that "neither
of them can act as well as a piece of cloth with someones arm
up it,"a reference to Jim Henson's Muppet" puppets.
Nastily, Nasty, Nasty Spumante -
Natalie Horrocks, sometimes called Nasty, Nastily or Nastily Horrid
after her affair with Kevin. Alan Milewczyk then took the name
of the wine Asti Spumante and converted it.
NastySam -
Samantha Failsworth, following the seeming "personality transplant"
that saw the character become cruel, manipulative and psychotic.
The Neck -
Deirdre Rachid,
in recognition of the outstanding contribution to the art of acting
by her neck and the tendons therein.
Orange Girl -
See Orangina.
Orangina -
See also Tango Girl. Orangina is an orange
drink available in the UK; Samantha's false tan has a decidedly
orange tint. Courtesy Mike Plowman.
PTF -
Personality Transplant Fairy. Not an onscreen character but a
backstage force which can turn formerly nice, stable characters
evil, deceitful and manipulative (Sally Webster and Samantha Failsworth)
or redeem formerly "bad" characters into "good
blokes" and hence accepted and loved members of the Street
family (Natalie Horrocks). I've traced it to Dewey (Peter Dewhirst)
who may or may not have been the very first to use it.
Peter Pine -
A nickname CP gave to Greg Kelly in honour of his wooden acting
style, and which was later alluded to in the programme when the
word "pine"was used by Maxime no less than four times
when she was talking to Greg.
The Pineapple -
Des Barnes,
for his failure to use some good skin care products. Mike Plowman.
Plank II -
Nick Tilsley. "Plank II" refers to his following Warren
Jackson, the original actor to play Nick, whose wooden acting
led him to be none-too-affectionately referred to as The Plank
in the newsgroup. Hearteningly, Plank II rapidly showed he could
live up to the name so the tradition was preserved. Everybody
began using Plank II immediately upon Greg's arrival, although
Paul Calter originated the original Plank nickname.
Plasticine Head -
Steve McDonald. Alan Milewczyk read the "Plasticine Head"
description in a local paper.
Poodle, The -
See Frizzie Lizzie.
R (name) -
The introduction of an "R"or "r"in front of
the name of a character represents the trait in some English dialects
of referring to a member of one's family (frequently, but not
exclusively, children) as "our (family's) so-and-so".
You might hear Deirdre talking of "RTracy", or Leanne
of "RToyah". Gary Bushnell used to use RBrian (in reference
to Brian Tilsley, whose mother Ivy called him RBrian constantly)
in his column years ago.
R Turry -
Terry Duckworth, as referred to by his mother Vera.
Rackle -
Raquel Watts.
Phonetic spelling of her name as pronounced by Jim McDonald.
Rackwell -
Raquel Watts.
Phonetic spelling as prounounced by some Street characters.
Rear of The Year -
Maxine Heavey(was
Raquel Watts).
Unbelievably, this was a real award, handed out by a jeans
manufacturer.
RoboAnne -
See MadAnne.
Rursie -
Rosie Webster. Based on her mother, Sally's, pronunciation of
her name.
Samanfa -
Samantha Failsworth. Phonetic spelling based on Des' pronunciation
of her name.
Sandy -
Alec Gilroy, who Jim McDonald calls "Sandy" (a diminutive
of "Alexander", Alec's full name), much to Alec's annoyance.
Sir Royston (of Cropper)-
Roy Cropper
- a man born at the wrong time? This nickname was Mike Plowman's
homage to the best actor Corrie has offered in the last five years.
The Slapper -
Usually refers to Liz McDonald. "Slapper" is slang for
someone who at least dresses trashily, and may act in the same
vein.
Smelly Kelly -
Kelly Thomson.
The origins are obscure since no one will actually admit to having
smelled her through the telly. Probably because it rhymes.
Smiley Spice -
Lorraine Brownlow, Natalie Horrocks' niece and persistently effervescent
barmaid. Just the sort of barmaid you want when you've got a hangover,
like. So dubbed by our Annie.
Sticky Vicky -
Maxine's
description of Vicky McDonald. See Midrift Maxine
for more.
Stottie Tottie -
Natalie Horrocks. A "stottie" is Geordie (north east
of England)-bred and Denise Welch (the actress) is a Geordie.
Tottie is - well, tottie!! Deb Paget originated the name.
Studley -
Chris Collins, hired presumably for his "hunk"and "stud"factor.
The name was actually originally applied by Mike Plowman's workmates
to a rather vain fellow at their workplace and he transferred
it to his updates.
Studley II -
Greg Kelly, replacement hunk and stud hired following Chris Collins'
departure from the Street (see also Studley).
Another Mike Plowman contribution.
Surphie -
Sophie Webster. Based on her mother, Sally's, pronunciation of
her name.
Supercamp -
Nick Tilsley, aka Tilly, for his campy acting style. Thus christened
by CP.
Tango Girl -
Samantha Failsworth, who is heavily made up with a fake orange-tinted
tan. Named by Mike Plowman after the orange character in Tango
soft drink ads.
Thunderbird -
Steve McDonald was dubbed this by Peter Dewhirst, "on the
basis that his acting was just as wooden, and he rolled his eyes
like one of the Tracy brothers" in the popular 1960s "supermarionation"
tv series Thunderbirds.
Tilly -
Nick Tilsley; Tilly is an adaptation of his surname. It seems
particularly apt for the character because it rhymes with "silly"
and is also a cross between "tizzy"and "frilly".
The brilliant Fiona Hamilton and Philppa Freegard dubbed him so
in a stand in update and Mike Plowman carried it over to his visual
updates.
Toyota -
Toyah Battersby; Fred Elliot called her Toyota when he couldn't
remember her name, which he muttered wasn't a proper name anyway.
TracyLuv -
Deirdre Rachid's
habitual form of addressing her daughter Tracy.
Trash -
Tricia Armstrong.
Well, she did seem pretty trashy in the beginning, and
it sounded right. Another Paul Baker contribution.
Vee -
Vera Duckworth. Jack sometimes calls her, rather affectionately,
by this diminutive, as do (very rarely) other characters.
Whoopsie Boy -
Nick Tilsey. If I have to explain it to you, you'll never understand.
Updaters have created their own code for places as well. These include:
Chateau Batteau- this clever moniker for the Battersby's place was originated by guest updater David McMurray.
Chez Elliot or House of Elliot - Fred Elliot's house, where Ashley, Zoe, Nick and Leanne, but ironically no one named Elliot, currently live. There was a UK drama series called "House of Elliott".
Fringes by Fiona - Hair by Fiona, of course, albeit the nickname name is catchier.
Hamburgers' - The McDonalds'.
T'Caff - Roy and Gail's Cafe.
Special thanks to Peter Dewhirst, R. Jeffreys, Steph Johnson, Chris "The Rattler" Lines, Alan Milewczyk, Janet T. O'Keefe, Deb Paget, Mike Plowman, The Rattler, Shirley, Sheila (MsElmo), Vivianne, and especially Graham Allsopp for beginning this list, filling in many gaps and providing background.
ronniecat
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