Thread: Russian Nicknames/Diminutives

It is really sweet when people use a diminuitive though... Seems so to me, anyway!
Isn't that a sign that you are good friends, or the person likes you?
Or could it be construed as being rude or overly familiar?

English, of course - has a fair number of nicknames too. I have noticed that the way that the nicknames are used vary quite a bit between the UK and US, with Americans using the nicknames a lot more, including kids nicknames for adults, i.e Johnny, Jamie etc
And president "Bill". (real name, William). Here is an explanation for anyone interested
http://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~trobb/nicklist.html

So, we rarely call someone Александр, we call him Саша, or Александр Васильевич, for example. He can also be Сашка, Сашок, Сашенька.
My name, Марк, does not have an official short form, but of course I can be called Марик, Маркуша and so on.