The parents of Cyclone Debbie are asking members of the public and the assembled media in North Queensland to call the cyclone Debbie by her birth name, Deborah. The cyclone was impacting on the Queensland coast on Tuesday.
The cyclone, whose birth name is Deborah Alison Johnson, was given the nickname of ‘Debbie’ by friends at school and it has stuck ever since.
“You go to all this trouble of choosing a nice name and then you kid goes off to primary and by grade three the kids have gone and changed her name,” the mother of the cyclone told Street Corner. “They all call her Deb or Debbie and it is infuriating. The worst part is the teachers encourage it.”
“Deborah’s father and I spent many months choosing just the right name for her, and to have it thrown back in our face is very disappointing. Especially now that she has made national news.”
But the cyclone itself has hit back, telling Street Corner that she hates the name Deborah and wishes that she was never given it.
“It actually makes me upset when people call me Deborah,” the cyclone told us, in her first official interview via satellite from North Queensland. “It’s even worse when I’m in trouble and mum calls me Deborah Alison. Like both names. It’s so lame.”
“I’m just glad I’m famous now, and I can get people to call me whatever I want.”
