Love in Code

I have found that women (myself included) often talk about men in code. More specifically, we often give our boyfriend/significant other/lover/sometimes lover/booty call/one night stand nicknames. The nickname usually corresponds with some sort of distinguishing characteristic of the guy. For example, I dated a guy who was very pale. We called him Paley. I dated a guy who liked to hold my hand. (I don't like holding hands.) I called him Handholder. He became a d_bag. Now I call him D_bag (insert name). <-- not very as subtle as the first one.

I have often wondered two things. First, why do we do this? Second, do guys do this?

A friend of my suggested that she thinks she give them nicknames as a way to avoid intimacy. By calling them something else besides their name, she subconsciously avoid getting to close. Another friend had a more practical reason. She's hooked up with a person at work and doesn't want the other people to know so she uses code. Makes sense. I just think nicknames are fun. They just come naturally when I gossip with my girls.

I've tried to ask a couple of guy friends about whether they give women nicknames. Apparently they don't do it that much. However, I suspect that if they do give nicknames, I'm sure they are more on the lewd end. Or they just call the girl "that crazy chick." I hear that a lot.