<p>I don’t really see why the “dear” is necessary. Does anyone actually say “my dear daughter” in lieu of “my daughter” every time? I just giggle a little everytime I read someone write “DD got into X college.”</p>
<p>Don’t attack me! I’m not trying to be rude or anything, I just thought it was a little odd when I first read it.</p>
<p>
It isn’t always. That’s why the “D” can also stand for “damned.” ;)</p>
<p>Berurah:
Gee. I thought the ‘D’ always stood ONLY for “damned”. :)</p>
<p>
NEVER from YOUR wife, I’m sure!! Darling maybe…or, maybe delightful… ;)</p>
<p>~b.</p>
<p>Interestingly enough the term has been around competitive sports -select or traveling teams- for the longest time, and problably originated there.</p>
<p>However, the twist is that it IS a pejorative reference to the players who are afflicted by a combination of lesser talent and obsessive and pushy parents. The poor kids, chosen mostly for their ability to pay the high fees and balance the team budget, not only ride the pine but have to see their parents complain about the lack of playing time and hear their teammates “Heeeeere’s goes my dear daughter or my dear son …” It’s slightly better than the BB that stand for benchbutt. For some reason I do not see that term becoming a CC regular term.</p>
<p>That’s interesting, xiggi. I wonder if that’s a regional thing re: sports teams and that usage. I’ve never heard it in all the years that my Ds have played competitive soccer. That could also possibly be because the teams where they’ve played have never chosen particular kids for their ability to “pay the high fees”. It was never a consideration during try-outs.</p>
<p>Hmmm, I only use D or S as shorthand for daughter or son. I don’t use DD or DS or DH or DW myself. I also have never refered to any family member in my offline discourse with the term “dear<strong><em>”. However, the abbreviations of DS, DD, DH, DW are ones that I noticed when I first got on the internet 9 years ago. These are shorthand terms on many message boards and not just CC. I see it all over. I just have never used them myself. In fact, while I use D or S to designate son or daughter, I ONLY use those letters on CC where it is the common shorthand, plus those words are used so often in parent posts as we don’t refer to our kids by their real names on here. But I have to stop myself from using “D” in any other online writing I do because I have only seen the one letter D or S here. The DD, DS, DH thing I do see elsewhere but have never used myself and couldn’t bring myself to using “dear</em></strong>_” as it is just not how I refer to them in real life. However, D or S are shorthand for daugther or son and so I use it as a shorthand here as that word is typed so often when I can’t/won’t use their real names.</p>
<p>I also have never heard the terms used with youth sports teams, on which my kids have been on plenty. I have only seen it on parent/family type internet forums unrelated to sports. </p>
<p>As with AlwaysAMom, my kids’ teams never required hefty fees to be on the team and money was not a factor with regard to how teams were chosen. Kids of all backgrounds played on the soccer, softball, tennis, etc. teams.</p>
<p>To be honest with ya, I know many kids from low income backgrounds who play on elite travel soccer teams. Perhaps your observation, Xiggi, are regional in nature. It’s not like that here in rural Vermont.</p>
<p>I use D as darling and do in fact refer to h and s as darling irl. Most often refer to h as sweetie, which draws guffaws all around when we are in large meetings with engineers and contractors. Started calling each other sweetie as a joke 25 years ago and it stuck!</p>
<p>Cheers, I can think of worse names to call one another so this was a good thing to stick! :)</p>
<p>
Awwwwwwwwww…</p>
<p>We have our little nicks too…Only they’re “Bee.” I’m “Honey Bee” and he’s “Woody Bee” <---------cause he has this full head of thick hair, and when he wakes up in the morning, it’s usually sticking up in the back like Woody Woodpecker! <em>lol</em> Now, though, after twenty-two years together, he’s wearing his hair shorter (<em>I</em> cut it now!), so it doesn’t do that as much…but he’s still Woody Bee. Usually we just call each other “Bee.” ~b.</p>
<p>p.s. BTW, I’ve also had lots of kids in competitive sports and have <em>never</em> heard “dear” used in the way described above…</p>
<p>“To be honest with ya, I know many kids from low income backgrounds who play on elite travel soccer teams. Perhaps your observation, Xiggi, are regional in nature. It’s not like that here in rural Vermont.”</p>
<p>Of course, that is exactly what I mean by balancing the team budget. If you have a roster of 18 and need to find 3-4 scholarship funders, the choice of the players number 15 through 18 becomes … as interesting as creative. </p>
<p>As far as being regional, I agree that it may NOT happen in certain regions that do not have a great representation or culture of select or traveling teams. Also, being pejorative, the term is mostly uttered under someone’s breath or under the anonymous cloak provided by internet forums, especially sports’ forums.</p>
<p>My “S” thinks that the whole “S” thing is bizarre. He knows I post here and says things like, "So did you talk about your “S” today? It’s become kind of a joke with us! I rarely use the D for dear designation but have once or twice, in a tongue in cheek kind of way. I did find it corny at first!</p>
<p>A very “dear” friend of mine always starts her emails to clsoe friends with Hello Dear which is very sweet, in an old fashioned way, and, of course, dear!</p>
<p>Correction - I used the wrong D in my example:</p>
<p>“Heeeeere’s goes my dear daughter or my dear son …”</p>
<p>should have been </p>
<p>“Heeeeere’s goes my darling daughter or my darling son …”</p>
<p>Xiggi:
If that “darling son” term got heard by any of his peers, he would never live it down.</p>
<p>Roshke:
If your son objects so much to being called “S” in CC posts, you should be more sensitive to his feelings. Start using ‘twerp’ instead? Or ‘young schmuck’? :)</p>
<p>optimizerdad, Sounds like a plan! :)</p>
<p>Guess what dd means to a dancer’s mom…you got it, dancing daughter. The “dear” bit never crossed my mind! :)</p>
<p>xiggi, still have to disagree about the choosing of players being dependent on their financial situation. The club my Ds play for is one of the largest in North America, with over 10,000 players. Over 2000 volunteers participate with the club every year, myself included. There are two or more travelling teams(called rep teams here) in each age category for both the girls and the boys division, starting at about age 11 and going up to 21, then Seniors. In total, there are 21 girls teams and 18 boys teams. In addition to the rep teams, there are 11 select girls teams and 10 select boys teams. The remaining thousands of players play house league. </p>
<p>Open try-outs are held for all travelling teams and the coaches are not aware of the financial situation of any players, even after the teams are selected. It’s the team manager and treasurer who deal with the finances. It costs about $350 a year for rep fees, additional costs for track suits and bags (which aren’t purchased every year), and any further costs are covered by sponsors and fundraising. The club pays entry fees for tournaments, league, and for referees. </p>
<p>Sorry to go off track here on the thread but just wanted to confirm that the way it’s done where you live is not universal. 
(I think we’ve talked before about Diana Matheson and Kara Lang, who are both from our club.)</p>