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I heard on yesterday's (10-22) show about a guy with a strange spelling to his name, and he also had given his son a weird spelling (poor kid). I thought someone would have started a thread about it now, but I can't find one, so I guess I'm the first.
Have you ever heard of someone naming a dog "Fido"? Everyone knows that it refers to a dog, but I've never heard of a dog actually named that. (And neither has anyone I've ever heard of.)
So, I named my dog "Fido". Except that I gave it a French spelling, "Phideaux". You should see the expression on the faces of vet's office managers when I write that name down on the waiting list. And any other time I have an occasion to write it down.
At least, she never can complain about her name's spelling!
heathbug said:
Have you ever heard of someone naming a dog "Fido"? Everyone knows that it refers to a dog, but I've never heard of a dog actually named that. (And neither has anyone I've ever heard of.)
Long before my time, and probably before the time of anyone still around to listen to "A Way With Words", there were two very popular names for dogs: Fido, from the Latin word for "faithful", for dogs who stayed by your side, and Rover for dogs who did anything but.
Strange spellings of names can be very interesting. I like unusual names or names that are kind of funny or humorous - though I feel a bit sorry for those who have been saddled with them. Here are a few that I know of that are real -
my husband worked with a guy named Dick Payne (I would have gone by Richard if I was him, just saying...)
a good friend of mine grew up with a girl named Vagina (honest to God - and it wasn't really Virginia)
a child who used to visit the library where I worked was named Shithead - pronounced "Shi-tay" (obviously parents with a particularly cruel streak)
a lady I work with knew two girls who were twins whose names were Ima and Yura whose last name was Pigh (pronounced "pig")
Do you have any funny or weird names to add?
There's an old wives' tale frequently related here in Texas. We had a governor in the '30s or thereabout named Hogg. (He was known as "Boss" Hogg.) The old wives' tale is that he had two daughters he named Ima and Ura. In actuality, he DID have a daughter he named Ima. But there was no Ura. Miss Ima Hogg (she never married, as far as I know) was a well known philanthropist here in Texas.
Bob Bridges said:
I worked with a lady named Gay Paris, who was loudly and repeatedly happy to get married so she could ditch that name.
In his autobiography, Mel Blanc told about the birth of his son Noel, and how it was only when it was too late to change things realized he'd given his (Jewish) kid a name that meant "White Christmas".
dieverdog said:
Strange spellings of names can be very interesting. I like unusual names or names that are kind of funny or humorous - though I feel a bit sorry for those who have been saddled with them. Here are a few that I know of that are real -
my husband worked with a guy named Dick Payne (I would have gone by Richard if I was him, just saying...)
a good friend of mine grew up with a girl named Vagina (honest to God - and it wasn"t really Virginia)
a child who used to visit the library where I worked was named Shithead - pronounced "Shi-tay" (obviously parents with a particularly cruel streak)
a lady I work with knew two girls who were twins whose names were Ima and Yura whose last name was Pigh (pronounced "pig")
Do you have any funny or weird names to add?
There"s a legend that there was a pair of sisters in Houston (all Texans know about these sisters) who were named Ima and Yura Hogg. This is an urban legend. There was an Ima Hogg, who was a great philanthropist in the Houston area, but there was no Yura Hogg. (Ima was a daughter of a former Governor 0f Texas; I don"t remember his first name.)
dieverdog said:
Strange spellings of names can be very interesting. I like unusual names or names that are kind of funny or humorous - though I feel a bit sorry for those who have been saddled with them....Do you have any funny or weird names to add?
Years ago—decades, come to think of it—I was attending classes and working at a local college (NC State University) and in the employees' break room I saw a Bible lying around somewhere. Now, I'm a Christian and was interested in who else there might be, too, so I picked up the Bible to see whose name was written in it.
What I saw was "Byron Bumpass". I assumed that the name was pronounced "BUMP-ass" and thought (a little disgustedly) that some prankster had written a mildly offensive name in someone else's Bible. But hours later I met the owner and discovered it was his real name, pronounced "BUMP-uss". We got to be good friends, in fact, though I lost track of him years later.
Bob Bridges said:
What I saw was "Byron Bumpass". I assumed that the name was pronounced "BUMP-ass" and thought (a little disgustedly) that some prankster had written a mildly offensive name in someone else's Bible. But hours later I met the owner and discovered it was his real name, pronounced "BUMP-uss". We got to be good friends, in fact, though I lost track of him years later.
This reminded me of a commercial on tv not too along similar lines.
I occasionally deal with a woman in my line of work whose first name is Shatina. I assume it is pronounced Sha-tina, at least I hope it is.
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