Sound Off

How did George W. Bush get the nickname "Dubya?" How is it correctly spelled and what does it mean?

Author Bill Minutaglio, in his 1999 book "First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty," notes that as long ago as 1975 "good old boys" from West Texas had several nicknames, including "Bombastic Bushkin," "George W." and "George Dubya," for their friend who would become the 43rd U.S. president.

Although its origin is unclear, the nickname derives from the president's middle initial and is correctly spelled D-U-B-Y-A in an effort to compel readers to pronounce the nickname in a manner that closely approximates the way many Texans enunciate the letter "W."



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