Kennedy John or Jack?

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Andrew.W

New Member
Jan 12, 2014
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Kirov
Hello! I have a question.
Why at Part6:The Green Card Man, Chapter 29, 7 when Kennedy calls Amberson he submitted as Jack Kennedy: "The nasal New England voice that responded sent a chill up my back. This was a man who would have now been lying on a morgue slab, if not for Sadie and me. “Mister Amberson? Jack Kennedy here. I . . . ah . . . understand that my wife and I owe you . . . ah . . . our lives..."?
And another at Chapter 29, 8: "When they were gone, I unfolded the tiny square. It was a page from his notebook. He had written three sentences, probably while I was on the phone with Jack Kennedy."
I've seen it at russian translation and at original language text (that I seen).

P.S.: sorry for my english.
P.S.S.: we don't speek "pokhoda, cyka", we speek "Idi, suka" or "poshla, suka".
 
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skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
Thanks for the answer, GNTLGNT! I understand now. But should not he was to introduce as John? Whole world knows him as John Kennedy.
In America, using a nickname ("Jack" instead of "John", in this case) is sign of affection or a feeling of closeness. The speaker, by using Jack, is showing that he either was close to the President, or felt close enough to be informal with/about him. In the case of politician, that sort of familiarity is a good thing--it means someone is both a likely voter and will encourage others they know to vote for you :)
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Hello! I have a question.
Why at Part6:The Green Card Man, Chapter 29, 7 when Kennedy calls Amberson he submitted as Jack Kennedy: "The nasal New England voice that responded sent a chill up my back. This was a man who would have now been lying on a morgue slab, if not for Sadie and me. “Mister Amberson? Jack Kennedy here. I . . . ah . . . understand that my wife and I owe you . . . ah . . . our lives..."?
And another at Chapter 29, 8: "When they were gone, I unfolded the tiny square. It was a page from his notebook. He had written three sentences, probably while I was on the phone with Jack Kennedy."
I've seen it at russian translation and at original language text (that I seen).

P.S.: sorry for my english.
P.S.S.: we don't speek "pokhoda, cyka", we speek "Idi, suka" or "poshla, suka".
At work there is a doctor who has the name John but another doctor will say "Send a copy to Jack _____". The girls from the Philippines did not know Jack was a nickname for John and so had a hard time finding his name in an automatic list for faxing.
So I guess it is not common knowledge if you speak ESL.
 

Cristian M

Well-Known Member
Mar 2, 2014
184
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Bucharest, Romania
In America, using a nickname ("Jack" instead of "John", in this case) is sign of affection or a feeling of closeness. The speaker, by using Jack, is showing that he either was close to the President, or felt close enough to be informal with/about him. In the case of politician, that sort of familiarity is a good thing--it means someone is both a likely voter and will encourage others they know to vote for you :)
your avatar picture immediately made me think of the cup of liquid s)h)*t) from IT novel by SK :)
 
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