Is anyone else struggling with what to call the wonderful man we just elected?

[Clio the Leo]

Ever since the election, I have found myself hesitating whenever I refer to ....... um .... him .... whether it's here or when I'm actually talking to people.

"Barack" doesn't seem to show enough respect.

"Obama" seems too impersonal.

"The President Elect" seems too formal. I mean, while he IS deserving of such formality, that's not who he is, ya know? (As evidenced by him telling those he was giving turkeys to on Wednesday "just call me Barack.")

If it didn't seem so flippin' sacrilegious, I'd just say "Him" with a capitol "H" and let that be the end of it. lol

hmmmmmmm......

[Triana]

1. President Beanpole

(that's my silly nickname for him - 'cause I love that he's smart, svelte and slinky - and that he's gonna be the President).

[Clio the Leo]

2. Ok, since you said it....

..... I will conceed to what I left out of my OP and that's MY OLD OLD term of affection from way back.

"POTUS Head"

As in "Aw, look at the POTUS head! How cute is he!" (whenever he would say something particularly clever)

[Triana]

29. Well...

I call him Obama out loud. But in my head I call him President Beanpole! And I cal him that affectionately. He's got to be the sexiest president we've ever had. And smart as a whip to boot. I really admire him for his intellect and temperment. I don't admire him the awful clean-up job he has to do after Chimpy McSmirkster though. However, I'm SO GLAD he's been elected the one to do it - because I believe he's capable of it. He's smarter than me, for sho' and I want someone smarter than me to be President (unlike the last 8 years where we had someone dumber than a rock in there).

The fact that he's sexy and nice to look at and to listen to (nice voice, and speaks intelligently, in complete sentences! Oooohhh!) is just icing on the cake.

I even got "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope" on CD - just so I could hear him read them. They're read by Obama himself. I'm going to put them in my iPod so I can listen to Obama yak at me as I go on my daily walk. Heh.

[butterfly77]

42. I have been calling him...

Sweets and now my family knows who I am talking about if he shows up on television...Company came over and I kept saying something or the other about him and they were asking who was "Sweets"

[Indiana_Dem]

3. I keep calling him Barack for some reason.

I DID happen to meet him, shake his hand, have him sign his book, and then I gave him a book to read. ....Plus, I've watched his every move and word since the primaries, and saw him speak again at a different time and got within inches of him again to take pictures. So, in a sense, I feel like I know him. So every time I speak of him to anyone I have a tendency to call him Barack. I think it's mostly when I'm referring to something I'm appreciative or approving of him doing or saying that I feel like calling him Barack, too.

I've been trying to say President Obama more, though. It doesn't roll off my tongue as well even though I claim him as my president to the nth degree!

[Clio the Leo]

5. Yeah, that's the one I use most often....

.... I mean, I don't know if it's because he's OUR guy or what, but you feel like you know him better than any other President, right?

"Mr. Barack"

"Barack, Sir"

"Your Imperial Barackness?" ... nah, maybe not.

"DUDE!!!"

Ok, def. going to bed this time.

[grace0418]

10. He told people "call me Barack" as he was handing out Thanksgiving goodies in Chicago the

other day. Straight from the man's mouth is good enough for me. I feel too attached to him, too much affection for him, to call him Mr. President or President Obama. I suppose I would if I met him, but when I refer to him, it will most often be "Barack."

[Clio the Leo]

4. CHANGEMEISTER!!!!! (Ok, I'm going to bed now.) NT

[meowomon]

6. They will call him Mr. President.

Now he's just Barack, Mr. Obama or President elect Obama. He's one of us though, so I don't think he really cares what we call him as long as we trust him to lead the country in the right(correct) direction. So far I think he is doing just fine. I am looking forward to Jan. 20th!

[NJCher]

7. you just made me realize something!

I've not called anyone "president" in eight years!!



Cher

[BrklynLiberal]

9. I did not have a president for 8 years. That moron never was and never would be MY

president.
It will be nice to finally have someone that I am proud to call my president!!

[pipi_k]

27. Same here

I never once referred to him as President and I never will

It makes me sick to even type that out...bleh


There were eight years of an interloper...in days past, he would have been comparable to someone who stole the Throne from the rightful King.


Goodbye Bush!

[knixphan]

52. seconded!

[Clio the Leo]

45. I've had a president but...

.... he was Martin Sheen.

Gonna miss ya Jeb.

[Jim Sagle]

8. No.

[DrPresident]

11. President Sexy

too much?

[Clio the Leo]

19. Well, at least there would be no doubt as to who we were talking about...

... lots of Presidents in the world, only one sexy one!

Well, I've always thought Hamid Karzai was cute ... it's the hat.

[Two Americas]

12. same as always

President Obama, Mr. President, and Sir.

Respect for the office, which belongs to the people is paramount in my opinion.

Respect for the man who will be holding it means he gets the same honorific as all previous presidents.

[Enrique]

13. That One

:-)

[Clio the Leo]

20. Nah, it's "THE One." :-) NT

[cokeboat]

14. I call him Obama

[MrSlayer]

15. Not really.

The only problem I really have is prematurely referring to him as President Obama.

[Forkboy]

16. Been calling him Obama all along. I doubt that will stop.

It's habit now.

[bowens43]

17. NOpe, to me he's Obama nt

[Brazenly Liberal]

18. "Yum, Yum! Hottie McPotus" would be disrespectful - accurate but disrespectful

so I'll keep calling him Obama. but he IS hot, hot, hot, neh?

[Clio the Leo]

21. I know, there's the dilemma.

What does the Constituion say re: crushing on the President .... we'll have to look it up.

[mnhtnbb]

22. How about the new President?

[bitchkitty]

23. I call him Obama, it trips off the tongue.

The first syllable is a kiss, and the rest an endearment. It's honey in my mouth.

If I had to call him by what he inspires, I would call him Hope. If I met him, I would call him Mr. President.

[BklynChick]

24. Barack.

[lonestarnot]

25. Mr. President since I haven't been able to say that for 8 years.

[CTyankee]

26. Our President. Try that one on any republican you can still find . I do it to drive them

a little crazy. A really simple, nice way of giving them "payback" without incurring bad karma on oneself.

If I were to have the extreme good fortune of meeting him I would address him as "Mr. President."

[Clio the Leo]

35. As Lucy told Schroeder on the Peanuts.....

... THAT'S IT!!!!

Wrap it up! I'll take it!

It's the perfect balance of respect and familiarity! And you're right about the anti-karma payback. It's the very embodiment of Romans 12:20 which is one of my favorite verses of scripture and I suspect "our President" likes it too because he seems to live by it.

And if *I* ever met him, I think all I'd be able to get out would be "thank you."

And thank YOU for solving my dilemma!

[CTyankee]

48. Hey, I'm honored. I never thought I'd get the prize.

But seriously, he IS our president. More so than ever. I am so thankful for him I cannot even say. It is both humbling and grateful to be able to say "Our President."

Amen.

[Jennicut]

28. I call him Mr. Prez-elect, not too formal but still showing respect

[L0oniX]

30. OBillery ?

[Jennicut]

43. Oh no.

That is too funny. Cutesy combos.

[book_worm]

31. I call him Barack, Obama, the president-elect, and when he's elected "the president"

I will still, I'm sure use his last name "Obama" when speaking of him, but I probably will use "the president" more frequently. I don't believe I have ever referred to Bush in eight years as "The president."

[MiniMe]

51. He has already been elected, I think maybe you mean sworn in?

Or inaugurated?

[Afikpo Chic]

32. I think Obama should start answering his full name

to take the sting out of hussein. when i see his full name used anywhere my heart skips a bit. but if he starts using it and answering it; hussein will no longer be too heavy on our lips, eyes and hearts. i really hope he will do so.

[qwlauren35]

40. I could go for .... on second thought, no.

I was going to say B.H. but when it rolled off of my tongue, it sounded too close to b***h. B.O. also has too odoriferous a connotation.

We haven't had a president with a 3 syllable name since Kennedy, I can't think of one who had emphasis on the middle syllable. So, President Obama is going to be enough of a mouthful. Adding more syllables will make it too chunky.

So, on the days when 6 syllables is too much for me, I'll shorten it to the President.

And when I'm feeling great warmth and affection for him, it might be Barack.

I'm amused that I say "Obama" and "Michelle"...

I'm REALLY looking forward to calling her "Our First Lady".

[AtomicKitten]

33. Schmoopie!

[Clio the Leo]

36. Maybe but.....

.... I think that only works if you are someone he regularly kisses on the nose.

(yep! time to whip out the nose kiss pic!)

[LWolf]

34. Obama. Or the president.

Either works for me.

Impersonal, and neutral, is as good as it's going to get.

[mtnsnake]

37. Obama

Nothing wrong with calling him Barack either, but Obama sounds fitting, respectful, distinguishing, and friendly all at the same time. There's just something about the name "Obama" that sounds so good.

[Bitter_Clinger]

38. I'll wait and see.

I do not know what he will do, I know what he SAID he will do but then I remember a long list of things others elected to this office said they woulkd do and never did. He is no more or no less human than any of these so I will wait and see what name better fits. It may not even be a pleasant one.

Like I said, I know what he promised. My ex-wife promised to forsake all others. Fuck the words. Show me and we'll go from there. Right now, President Elect Obama is at zero. Let's see where he goes from there once he is President.

I take my dad's advice on politicians, even history making ones, "If you expect the worst out of everybody, you won't be disappointed."

[BuyingThyme]

39. Ace.

[Sebastian Doyle]

41. COMMIE MUSLIN ISLAMOFASIST !!!111!!!!1!!

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

[sallyseven]

44. How about Mr. Wonderful.

[Clio the Leo]

46. Mr. Goodbar?

Again.... probably not appropriate but OH so fitting.

[happychatter]

47. I'm thinkin' "O'Bammy" because it rhymes with "Alabammy" and I can make up doggerel easier

when I'm singing in the shower

[OhioBlue]

49. My son calls him "Bama" (he is 16 mos.)

He has been saying it since he was about 7 mos. Now, he knows when he sees him on tv or his pic that it is Obama and he yells out "Bama!". So, I usually say Bama or Obama - also Barack. I'm sure after Jan 20, I'll use "President Obama" more often.

[bigwillq]

50. Oh jeez.

Call him whatver you want. He's your president.