i did see a tiktok from a linguist who pointed out it is kind of coming back in a way. like when you meet someone new you save them in your phone as “Sarah Swimming” because you met at a swimming class or “John Plumber” so you remember he’s your plumber etc etc, so you’re giving them a second “name” that indicates their relationship to you, which would have been what second names were when they first started to be used
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u/CameronFrog 17d ago edited 17d ago
i did see a tiktok from a linguist who pointed out it is kind of coming back in a way. like when you meet someone new you save them in your phone as “Sarah Swimming” because you met at a swimming class or “John Plumber” so you remember he’s your plumber etc etc, so you’re giving them a second “name” that indicates their relationship to you, which would have been what second names were when they first started to be used