*promote for sanity!

Self promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Thursday, June 30th, 2011 4:35am PDT - promote requested by original submitter DerHasisttot.

Maybe I should stop trying to convince my wife to name our second son "Nightcrawler"

insightful and ... stolid, I suppose

... will come back later to *promote for stolidity

I personally can't stand when people think they're being "creative" by changing a letter or two in a name to make it "unique":

Jackson becomes Jaxon
Aden (or Aiden) becomes Caden, Jaden, Maden, Braden, Zaden, Gaden, and so forth...
Courtney becomes Kortny (wtf?)

Wow, so clever AND unique!

... Andrew becomes 'Bamdrew'...
>> ^schlub:

I personally can't stand when people think they're being "creative" by changing a letter or two in a name to make it "unique":
Jackson becomes Jaxon
Aden (or Aiden) becomes Caden, Jaden, Maden, Braden, Zaden, Gaden, and so forth...
Courtney becomes Kortny (wtf?)
Wow, so clever AND unique!

>> ^schlub:

I personally can't stand when people think they're being "creative" by changing a letter or two in a name to make it "unique":
Jackson becomes Jaxon
Aden (or Aiden) becomes Caden, Jaden, Maden, Braden, Zaden, Gaden, and so forth...
Courtney becomes Kortny (wtf?)
Wow, so clever AND unique!


The more creative someone's name is spelled the more likely I'm apt to think their parents, and they by extension, are illiterate morons who when asked by the doctor what their child's name was, just started spitting out random consonants and vowels.

I understand to some extent in that parents want their children to have a name that not everyone has. I remember being in a class where there were 4 kids named Robert, which could be a bit of a problem when trying to address one of them, but it wasn't that big of a deal, nor did it detract from the Roberts' individualism.

The only thing I find worse, is trend naming. I swear there was a period of time when parents only named their kids Austin or Taylor.

The more creative someone's name is spelled the more likely I'm apt to think their parents, and they by extension, are illiterate morons who when asked by the doctor what their child's name was, just started spitting out random consonants and vowels.


Statistically, you're right. Someone studied it out - can't remember where - and people named "Jazzmyne" (or other variants, to a lesser extent) were dumber and less successful than people with the more conventional "Jasmine" (even after controlling for economic situation, etc..).

I AM ANGRY THAT PEOPLE HAVE NAMES THAT I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH

My father's wife's daughter called her little girl "Sydney." In English-speaking countries this would not be a problem, but here in Germany it stands out like a lighthouse. Even more problematic is the fact that the mother cannot even pronounce the name properly, which would be sth like "Sid-knee." She pronounces it "Süd-neigh," which is just ugly.

mmmm, SpaceVixen:

What a Tarquin. Wait, am I the only one who doesn't know what a Tarquin is supposed to be like?

>> ^Crosswords:

>> ^schlub:
I personally can't stand when people think they're being "creative" by changing a letter or two in a name to make it "unique":
Jackson becomes Jaxon
Aden (or Aiden) becomes Caden, Jaden, Maden, Braden, Zaden, Gaden, and so forth...
Courtney becomes Kortny (wtf?)
Wow, so clever AND unique!

The only thing I find worse, is trend naming. I swear there was a period of time when parents only named their kids Austin or Taylor.
you mean http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/ ?

Even in English speaking countries, she may find herself being teased for having a name which is usually a boys name.

Does that horrible pronunciation sound, to a German, like the sound a bavarian horse would make, or like oppression of the south? Or is there another homophone that I've missed?>> ^DerHasisttot:

My father's wife's daughter called her little girl "Sydney." In English-speaking countries this would not be a problem, but here in Germany it stands out like a lighthouse. Even more problematic is the fact that the mother cannot even pronounce the name properly, which would be sth like "Sid-knee." She pronounces it "Süd-neigh," which is just ugly.

>> ^oritteropo:

Even in English speaking countries, she may find herself being teased for having a name which is usually a boys name.
Does that horrible pronunciation sound, to a German, like the sound a bavarian horse would make, or like oppression of the south? Or is there another homophone that I've missed?>> ^DerHasisttot:
My father's wife's daughter called her little girl "Sydney." In English-speaking countries this would not be a problem, but here in Germany it stands out like a lighthouse. Even more problematic is the fact that the mother cannot even pronounce the name properly, which would be sth like "Sid-knee." She pronounces it "Süd-neigh," which is just ugly.



I'm mot good at transcribing into phonetic language, I admit it :-)



The first syllable sounds like the french "Zut" as in "Zut alors!", the second syllable sounds like the word "neigh". As opposed to a (hopefully) correct pronunciation "Sid-knee".

I work with a guy named Thor and he's a badass that definitely lived up to his name. Thanks for this bit of conformist nonsense, David. The actual problem with Western names is that most of them originate from the Bible. Which to me speaks more about the intelligence of the parents than a so-called "unique" name. How on earth is Sunshine a "unique" name? It's purposeful, it's upbeat, and without it there would be no life on this planet. I'd rather be named after something that does our world some good than some asshole King of the Israelites.

some kid went to high school with's real name was Shithead Johnson.
it was pronounced shih-theed, but talk about cruel and unusual punishment...

Well it's lucky that, like David Mitchell says, a name is just a label and everyone will get used to it. My kids know a girl named "Mustang", which surely would be worse

You're right that sid-knee would be correct.

The masters of spelling a name one way and pronouncing it another are our cousins across the English channel from you. Have you heard of an English TV show called "Keeping up appearances"? The main character is named Hyacinth Bucket, but insists it's pronounced "Bouquet".
>> ^DerHasisttot:

>> I'm not good at transcribing into phonetic language, I admit it :-)

The first syllable sounds like the french "Zut" as in "Zut alors!", the second syllable sounds like the word "neigh". As opposed to a (hopefully) correct pronunciation "Sid-knee".

I think in Hyacinth's case, she's just being an obnoxious twit. I don't think it's just an English thing
>> ^oritteropo:

The main character is named Hyacinth Bucket, but insists it's pronounced "Bouquet".

How about "Hurricane Luther White"

What do you think happened to the brothers who were named "Winner" and "Loser"?
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/31/1027926917671.html

There was a guy named "Jack Meoff" in my high school... honestly, I've got the yearbook to prove it

It's about time we start giving our kids usernames, like: Felinda4, because there's already Felinda1 through Felinda3. If we don't reserve these names at birth there won't be any good usernames left!