Eh. What’s in a name? Samuel Richardson invented “Pamela” out of whole cloth for his novel of the same name in 1740. I’ve got a niece named Arwen (from “Lord of the Rings”), and nobody makes a fuss about it…
By the way, JohhnyDiego, did you notice that the author of that article questioning names like “Fortune” and “Bristol” spells her name “Keli”?
I’m also reminded of an episode of “Cheers” where Jennifer Tilly appeared as a “fun girl” who spelled her name “Candi”:
“I spell it that way so people will take me more seriously, y’know? Like ‘Gandhi?’”
My favorite is still Washinetta. I listened carefully but never found out what they call her for short. Perhaps Wash
In that school we also had a couple of boy called Marlon and a couple called Marlin. One of those is a fish, but I don’t recall which. Do you know how many ways there are to spell Cathy, Kathy, Cathie, Kathie, Kathey, Kathe, Khathay, and so on…..
^^ That was the whole point of the joke, Gweedo. And why don’t you spell your name “Guido” like a NORMAL person? You stuck up or something?
By the way, that same episode of “Cheers” was the one where Frasier demanded “If we can put a man on the moon, why can’t we put metal in a microwave?!?”, which I quoted Monday (without attribution).
My dad’s name was Allen, and I had schoolmates tell me that this was “wrong”, and only Alan (or maybe Allan) was “right.” Actually, my grandfather wanted to name him Ethan Allen after the Green Mountain hero, but my grandmother forced a compromise. It’s a shame, too. The guy made such great furniture…
I can’t imagine being named something like “John”, myself. The name my parents gave me was common enough, which is why I changed it to “Fritz” when I was 15 (not legally, but anyone who wanted my attention had to start calling me that). I’ve heard that it’s kind of traumatic when a child first meets another child with the same name: “No, you’re NOT Billy! I’m Billy!” You end up with “Big Tony, Blond Tony, Tony L., Tony G., other Tony G…” and so on. In 30 years, I’ve never actually met anyone else named Fritz (although I know they’re out there somewhere). It may be that I will someday (there’ve been a couple of close calls), and I’ll probably take it badly…
Eldo, there’s also the episode of “Mad About You” where Paul’s uncle (Mel Brooks) was going in for an operation, and got Jamie to promise that if their baby was a boy they’d name it after him. Jamie agreed, under the impression that the uncle’s name was Max (or something like that), but when Paul heard, he told her that his REAL name was Deuteronomy. As it turned out, the uncle was under anaesthetic when he made his “last wishes”, and after the operation he was all “You promised me WHAT?!?”
It was a funny episode, but it struck me that a Jewish man was unlikely to be named Deuteronomy in the first place, since that’s the GREEK name for the fifth book of the Torah/Pentateuch, and not the Hebrew (“Devarim”).
Concerning F.I.A.T., I’ll publish a paper someday. Basically, it just means that any topic of conversation can segue seamlessly into any other topic, if you can just find the “facets” that are parallel each other: Any “thing” has an immeasurable number of possible associations, so it’s nearly inevitable that some link CAN be made, however disparate the two ideas appear at first. At the very most, you only need one intermediary step: You can move from John Lennon (R.I.P) to home computers by linking both to “Apple”. Think “Two Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, played with the entire universe. It’s a game I like to play, but I also think it has profound implications for philosophy and psychology.
P.S. I once engaged in business correspondence with a woman named Vendetta. “Vendetta” is a pretty word, but I can’t imagine her parents had any idea what it means…
1) When I was a kid, I read a story (in Highlights for Children, maybe?) about a wolf named Aloysius, and since I’d never heard that name aloud I thought for years that it was pronounced “a-LOY-see-us.” Even though I’d later heard “a-lo-ISH-us”, it took me ages to realize that it was the right way to pronounce the name of the wolf in that story.
2) About 15 years ago, I shared an office with a woman (born and raised in the Anglophone U.S.) whose name was Hèléne, pronounced in the French manner, “e-LEN.” She’d get really angry if anyone called her “hel-EEN,” and since our standard typewriters didn’t include keys for “è” or “é” she’d be very particular about writing the diacritical marks in pen wherever her name appeared. The way I looked at it, it was like insisting your name always be spelled with a schwa; we simply don’t USE those characters in English.
3) Nowadays, I hang out with a lot of Irish from Ireland, and the way they spell some of their names is pretty odd to non-Irish eyes. Pretty much everybody knows now that “Sean” is pronounced “shawn”, but would you have any idea how to address a woman whose nametag reads “Niamh” or “Siobhan”? (A: “neev” and “she-VAWN.”)
If I’m told it’s spelled “Luxury-yacht” but pronounced “THROAT-warb-ler-MAN-grove,” what business is that of mine?
A few years back I was playing golf with a couple of friends named Hank and Mike. Since were were a threesome, the starter added a fourth to our group. He introduced himself to us as Mike. I said, “well, I’m also Mike” and Mike said the same. Hank chimed in and said, “I guess my name is gonna be Mike today too.”
Edcole1961 almost 14 years ago
And she has a dog, a French Poodle named Phydeaux.
Yukoneric almost 14 years ago
Why do parents do that to their children? What happened to Joe, Bob, Pete, Bud, Mary, Wanda, Beth???????????
fritzoid Premium Member almost 14 years ago
Eh. What’s in a name? Samuel Richardson invented “Pamela” out of whole cloth for his novel of the same name in 1740. I’ve got a niece named Arwen (from “Lord of the Rings”), and nobody makes a fuss about it…
By the way, JohhnyDiego, did you notice that the author of that article questioning names like “Fortune” and “Bristol” spells her name “Keli”?
I’m also reminded of an episode of “Cheers” where Jennifer Tilly appeared as a “fun girl” who spelled her name “Candi”:
“I spell it that way so people will take me more seriously, y’know? Like ‘Gandhi?’”
laojim almost 14 years ago
My favorite is still Washinetta. I listened carefully but never found out what they call her for short. Perhaps Wash
In that school we also had a couple of boy called Marlon and a couple called Marlin. One of those is a fish, but I don’t recall which. Do you know how many ways there are to spell Cathy, Kathy, Cathie, Kathie, Kathey, Kathe, Khathay, and so on…..
fritzoid Premium Member almost 14 years ago
^^ That was the whole point of the joke, Gweedo. And why don’t you spell your name “Guido” like a NORMAL person? You stuck up or something?
By the way, that same episode of “Cheers” was the one where Frasier demanded “If we can put a man on the moon, why can’t we put metal in a microwave?!?”, which I quoted Monday (without attribution).
My dad’s name was Allen, and I had schoolmates tell me that this was “wrong”, and only Alan (or maybe Allan) was “right.” Actually, my grandfather wanted to name him Ethan Allen after the Green Mountain hero, but my grandmother forced a compromise. It’s a shame, too. The guy made such great furniture…
I can’t imagine being named something like “John”, myself. The name my parents gave me was common enough, which is why I changed it to “Fritz” when I was 15 (not legally, but anyone who wanted my attention had to start calling me that). I’ve heard that it’s kind of traumatic when a child first meets another child with the same name: “No, you’re NOT Billy! I’m Billy!” You end up with “Big Tony, Blond Tony, Tony L., Tony G., other Tony G…” and so on. In 30 years, I’ve never actually met anyone else named Fritz (although I know they’re out there somewhere). It may be that I will someday (there’ve been a couple of close calls), and I’ll probably take it badly…
fritzoid Premium Member almost 14 years ago
Eldo, there’s also the episode of “Mad About You” where Paul’s uncle (Mel Brooks) was going in for an operation, and got Jamie to promise that if their baby was a boy they’d name it after him. Jamie agreed, under the impression that the uncle’s name was Max (or something like that), but when Paul heard, he told her that his REAL name was Deuteronomy. As it turned out, the uncle was under anaesthetic when he made his “last wishes”, and after the operation he was all “You promised me WHAT?!?”
It was a funny episode, but it struck me that a Jewish man was unlikely to be named Deuteronomy in the first place, since that’s the GREEK name for the fifth book of the Torah/Pentateuch, and not the Hebrew (“Devarim”).
Concerning F.I.A.T., I’ll publish a paper someday. Basically, it just means that any topic of conversation can segue seamlessly into any other topic, if you can just find the “facets” that are parallel each other: Any “thing” has an immeasurable number of possible associations, so it’s nearly inevitable that some link CAN be made, however disparate the two ideas appear at first. At the very most, you only need one intermediary step: You can move from John Lennon (R.I.P) to home computers by linking both to “Apple”. Think “Two Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, played with the entire universe. It’s a game I like to play, but I also think it has profound implications for philosophy and psychology.
fritzoid Premium Member almost 14 years ago
P.S. I once engaged in business correspondence with a woman named Vendetta. “Vendetta” is a pretty word, but I can’t imagine her parents had any idea what it means…
fritzoid Premium Member almost 14 years ago
Took a lot of ribbing on the schoolyard when you were a kid, did you Night-Gaunt49? What did they call you, “Naughty Nightie”? “Night-Gaunt69”?
trekkermint almost 14 years ago
wendy was created by barrie for petre pan
laojim almost 14 years ago
I don’t think Washinetta has to spell hers for people.
fritzoid Premium Member almost 14 years ago
It cuts both ways:
1) When I was a kid, I read a story (in Highlights for Children, maybe?) about a wolf named Aloysius, and since I’d never heard that name aloud I thought for years that it was pronounced “a-LOY-see-us.” Even though I’d later heard “a-lo-ISH-us”, it took me ages to realize that it was the right way to pronounce the name of the wolf in that story.
2) About 15 years ago, I shared an office with a woman (born and raised in the Anglophone U.S.) whose name was Hèléne, pronounced in the French manner, “e-LEN.” She’d get really angry if anyone called her “hel-EEN,” and since our standard typewriters didn’t include keys for “è” or “é” she’d be very particular about writing the diacritical marks in pen wherever her name appeared. The way I looked at it, it was like insisting your name always be spelled with a schwa; we simply don’t USE those characters in English.
3) Nowadays, I hang out with a lot of Irish from Ireland, and the way they spell some of their names is pretty odd to non-Irish eyes. Pretty much everybody knows now that “Sean” is pronounced “shawn”, but would you have any idea how to address a woman whose nametag reads “Niamh” or “Siobhan”? (A: “neev” and “she-VAWN.”)
If I’m told it’s spelled “Luxury-yacht” but pronounced “THROAT-warb-ler-MAN-grove,” what business is that of mine?
MisngNOLA almost 14 years ago
A few years back I was playing golf with a couple of friends named Hank and Mike. Since were were a threesome, the starter added a fourth to our group. He introduced himself to us as Mike. I said, “well, I’m also Mike” and Mike said the same. Hank chimed in and said, “I guess my name is gonna be Mike today too.”