LISBON — Charles Plummer and Merton Ricker will team up to give another talk at the Lisbon Historical Society on Wednesday, Nov. 12. “What’s Behind That Nickname?” is their title, and they have collected and attempted to research more than 150 nicknames. Many derivations of these special names are obvious, but others have them stumped.

Some categories they will talk about are descriptive names, usually derived from the way a person talks, walks, or looks. They promise to be discrete about revealing some of these. The more obvious nicknames are the common short forms of full given or family names, such as “Bob” for Robert, “Ginny” for Virginia.

Quite a few of the names they have gathered are unique to the local area. One special category recalls the pet names given to teachers by their students. “Tilly,” “Bubbles” and “Candy” are among these. Plummer and Ricker wonder how many of these were known to the teachers at the time.

Not all the nicknames are of people. There are nooks and crannies in the area that have special unofficial names as well, such as the Coodle, Kettlebottom and Rattlesnake Hill.

Many visitors to the Lisbon Historical Society rooms have added to the “nicknames list.” The speakers suspect that there will be more names suggested by those attending their talk. They also hope that some of the nicknames that remain a mystery to them can be explained then, too.

Their talk will begin after the society’s brief business meeting at 7 p.m. at the MTM Center on School Street. The society’s rooms are at the rear of the building; parking is also behind the building. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For more information, inquire at [email protected] or call Dorothy Smith at 353-8510.