I thought Harry was short for Harold, or Harrison, while Henry is... just Henry.
What nonsense was James blabbering about?
Those electroshock therapy sessions must have scrambled his brain worse than suspected...
James was right.
In the 1950s Harry would have been used as a form of Henry, not an abbreviation, but a more informal use. It's like the John/Jack thing - exactly the same.
Harry has always been a popular form of Henry. Here's an example. Prince Harry's real name is Henry, his proper title is 'Prince Henry of Wales', but his family announced when he was born he would be known as 'Harry'.
We have lost track of these older interpretations for names. These days everyone thinks 'Harry' is short for 'Harrison' and 'Jack' is short for 'Jackson' but that's not all there is to it.
You are right about the Henry/Harry and John/Jack thing, though I will never understand why that this is done! :)
Right when the Henry character appeared, I thought it was odd that they would call James' next love interest almost like the previous one. They probably had a plan all along! :)
These name things does not always make sense. :)
Like Margareth being shortened to Daisy.
I know Margareth comes from Marguerite, the flower. And the flower is named daisy in English.
And, in a similar vein, how did "Peggy"
derive from Margaret/Marguerite?
Well, the nick-name would of course have been Meggy or Meg at first.
It has evolved into Peg(gy) in this way: Margareth > Meg(gy) > Peg(gy).
Here are some other examples of how some seemingly odd nick-names most likely evolved:
Anne > mine Anne > Nan
Edward > Ed > mine Ed > Ned
Mary > Molly > Polly
Richard > Rick(y) > Dick(y)
Robert > Rob(by) > Bob(by)
William > Will(y) > Bill(y)
Interestingly enough, it is now more common to go back to the original form of the name for nick-names.
Anne will rather be called "Annie" than "Nan".
Edward will rather be called "Ed" or "Eddy" than "Ned".
Margareth will rather be called "Maggie" than "Peggy".
Richard will rather be called "Rick" or "Ricky" than "Dick" or "Dicky".
Robert will rather be called "Rob" or "Robbie" than "Bob" or "Bobby"
William will rather be called "Will" or "Willy" than "Bill" or "Billy".
James was right.
In the 1950s Harry would have been used as a form of Henry, not an abbreviation, but a more informal use. It's like the John/Jack thing - exactly the same.
Harry has always been a popular form of Henry. Here's an example. Prince Harry's real name is Henry, his proper title is 'Prince Henry of Wales', but his family announced when he was born he would be known as 'Harry'.
We have lost track of these older interpretations for names. These days everyone thinks 'Harry' is short for 'Harrison' and 'Jack' is short for 'Jackson' but that's not all there is to it.