Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Sept 23, 2015 21:47:00 GMT -5
Mostly, I would get annoyed with computer programs that would try to change my Polish last name to an, apparently, much more common Hispanic name, I'm guessing. Think autocorrect for your last name. Hello? . WTF? A slight annoyance was teachers that would pronounce it with a z &/or a k sound. Neither letter is in there, and there is no indication that those sounds should exist in my last name. Otherwise, sometimes a teacher would have a long pause in a list of names. Occasionally, I would just jump in and say that it was me. *le sigh*
Otherwise, I grew up with a brother that made up all kinds of horrible names for me, so, if someone is at least respectful, I'll answer to pretty much anything. I actually prefer for strangers not to know my name. When I used to work name-tag jobs, I was really tempted to put a completely different name on mine.
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Plain Old Petunia
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Post by Plain Old Petunia on Sept 23, 2015 21:55:10 GMT -5
So, just got done dealing with an issue where a user got their tail in knot and threw a hissy fit over the fact that an informal for their eyes only sent to them file name contained their misspelled name. ::sigh:: they could just rename the file and be done with it.
It makes me wonder how many other people are so passionate about the spelling of their name that it causes ire when they see it spelled wrong (or inconsistent with whatever punctuation/abbreviations they prefer) in ONE TIME ONLY instances?
What about pronunciation? Do you correct people you may never meet or talk to again when they mangle your name?
With the whole service person as a 'friend' thing going on, I HATE having to give my name to people I'm only going to interact with for a minute or two - they aren't going to get the last name right - and there's a chance that they might shorten the first name I give them to one of it's dozens of variations - even though I didn't introduce myself with one of those variations. ::sigh::
I totally and completely understand being upset and pursuing having one's name correctly spelled on official documents and such or when your moniker will be in public view (even if it's just a couple of people in the office).
My name is Tonya. When your name is Tonya, you get used to misspellings and mispronunciations. Do I enjoy it? No. Do I have a cow? No. People don't do it on purpose, for goodness' sake. The person who had a hissy fit needs to get over him/her self.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Sept 23, 2015 22:22:20 GMT -5
When people ask my last name (so they can write it down somewhere), I just spell it as they write it, then say it afterward so they know how it is pronounced. If I say the name and then spell it, about 90% will throw in capitalization in the middle of the name. I've never understood why people do that (it's so rare in the states that you would not see it capitalized, even in the "old country" I've never seen it capitalized). It's very rare that someone will spell or pronounce it correctly the first time (or ever spell it correctly from memory), and I'm ok with that. But, at work, I try to get it spelled correctly on day one, or they will put it in the phone directory, email distribution list, work badge, official documentation, etc, incorrectly. It's kind of funny, a lot of people at work just get called by their last name. I don't, even though it's pronounced with fewer syllables than my first name, and I think it's mostly because people don't know how to pronounce it (it's not difficult at all once you hear it). The only time it really bothered me though was during my EEO claim. They already try to belittle you as much as they can (especially when you have proof of the harassment), but they spelled my name wrong in my claim, in multiple places, using multiple wrong versions. I let them know before it became official documentation (I had five days to point out issues), and I got it back with new misspellings, and now the first name was also misspelled. At that point, I could only see it as deliberate, so when I had to sign stuff, I'd just cross off the misspelling and spell it correctly, if they want it to look so incompetent they can't even spell my name correctly, it was only going to help my case later. Most of the time, when people mangle it (and they aren't someone I'd deal with much in the future), I just ignore it. If they ask if they pronounced it correctly, no matter how badly mangled, I just smile and say "Close enough! It's xxxx." One thing I loved in Europe, people were surprised I was American when I'd made a reservation, and no one mispronounced it or randomly capitalized it
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Sept 23, 2015 23:38:24 GMT -5
My SIL misspelled my name in every.single.card she gave me for over a decade. I couldn't care less.
When we were buying a house, one of the people dealing with our mortgage kept misspelling my name. I made it very clear that she is not allowed to have anything to do with our documents or I would find another lender. I've seen first hand issues people had while trying to prove that they are the right person due to similar errors on official documents.
When I used to work people would send me an email and misspell my name in the text of the email. I didn't care in the sense that my feelings weren't hurt, but it gave me a good indication of their certain skills and character traits.
I also don't care when people mispronounce my name.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2015 23:47:23 GMT -5
My former next door neighbor, and a bunch of other people on my street, would pronounce my name Kerry. Yeah, that's not my name. I'm named after a Stephen King book and it's pronounced the way it's spelled. Don't piss me off or I'll set your prom ablaze! Bah. All we had at mine was a bomb threat.
My maiden name, I had never seen spelled correctly until Criminal Minds. I LOVE EMILY!!!!! I wish she was in my family.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Sept 24, 2015 0:52:25 GMT -5
I expect people to misspell my name. It's long. And complicated. And Russian.
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Sept 24, 2015 6:46:21 GMT -5
My former next door neighbor, and a bunch of other people on my street, would pronounce my name Kerry. Yeah, that's not my name. I'm named after a Stephen King book and it's pronounced the way it's spelled. Don't piss me off or I'll set your prom ablaze! Bah. All we had at mine was a bomb threat. My maiden name, I had never seen spelled correctly until Criminal Minds. I LOVE EMILY!!!!! I wish she was in my family. I'd pronounce those two spellings exactly the same, as well as other variant spellings I've seen and know personally : Karrie, Kari, Keri. I've always pronounced them all like the word "carry" = care E. Is this a regional thing like Mary-marry-merry? Those all sound alike to me, too.
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Sept 24, 2015 7:11:56 GMT -5
Actually, there is one misspelling that kind of bugs me, but it's more just a head-scratcher. At home we call DS5 Xander, short for Alexander (he uses Alex at school). Multiple extended family members have written his name as Zander. Why would you change the X to Z, rather than just drop the first few letters? I would not know how to pronounce xander. I would spell a name like that how it sounded. Since it is just a nickname I wouldnt even think there was a right or worng way to spell it. Granted, if you just heard us call him Xander (and never knew it was a shortened form of Alexander), I could see spelling it as you hear it. But we are talking about close family here - they knew his full name, and knew us well enough to use our chosen nickname (not the more common Alex). Both versions involve dropping a part of the name completely, just one is at the beginning, one at the end. Seemed pretty obvious to me, and easier to boot. Curious why you don't think there is a right/wrong way to spell a nickname. Nicknames are if anything more personal to an individual, since they get to choose them. I'd think proper chosen spelling would be important. Then again, some people view nicknames differently. My sister hates that her given name doesn't match the name everyone calls her. "If you wanted me to be X, then why didn't you name me X?" The nuns in grammar school wouldn't allow you to write anything but full names on school work, so that grated on her. Obviously she feels her nickname is "her", not her given name, and hates the confusion when she needs to use the full name. She deliberately gave her boys names that could not be turned into nicknames, due to her feelings. I'm the opposite - I tried to choose names for my kids that they could create multiple nicknames from, so they could have a choice to suit their personality.
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Sept 24, 2015 7:30:36 GMT -5
Both my first and last names are often misspelled and mispronounced. If I got angry over it I'd have to be angry all the darned time!
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Sept 24, 2015 7:41:34 GMT -5
I have heard of a bunch of boys with the name Alexander that had it shortened like that, but none of them have ever used the X as the first letter. The most common way is Zander and the other is Sander. I agree that a grandma can and should learn to spell their names right, but I would get used to people spelling it the "normal" way. I highly doubt your unique spelling it going catch on. My names are really old and short. Both first and last are original Latin names. My last name gets on those lists of the worlds most popular names too. I get people who turn my last name into a first name. I don't really get that but I have never gotten angry about it. My first name has been spelled in some really strange ways. It is a five letter name. After people are done spelling it I am not even sure how to pronounce it half the time. Then when I spell it for people a lot get offended that I think they wouldn't know how to spell it.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Sept 24, 2015 7:50:15 GMT -5
I have heard of a bunch of boys with the name Alexander that had it shortened like that, but none of them have ever used the X as the first letter. The most common way is Zander and the other is Sander. I agree that a grandma can and should learn to spell their names right, but I would get used to people spelling it the "normal" way. I highly doubt your unique spelling it going catch on. My names are really old and short. Both first and last are original Latin names. My last name gets on those lists of the worlds most popular names too. I get people who turn my last name into a first name. I don't really get that but I have never gotten angry about it. My first name has been spelled in some really strange ways. It is a five letter name. After people are done spelling it I am not even sure how to pronounce it half the time. Then when I spell it for people a lot get offended that I think they wouldn't know how to spell it. That reminded me. My EX's grandmother never did call me by my correct name. She had it off by one letter. But she was old and hard of hearing and it was no big thing. I just answered to what she called me. Hey, it was better than what my EX MIL probabaly called me behind my back
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cael
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Post by cael on Sept 24, 2015 7:50:28 GMT -5
My maiden name is a boys name and my first name is foreign. So I always hated the first day of school when the teacher would decide my name must be out of order when doing roll call and shout "boy name" while I had to sheepishly raise my hand and say "no, that's my last name". By the time I hit 4th or 5th grade, most of the class would gear up during the pause to yell my name out before the teacher could attempt whatever. My husband always tells people that in school, when the teacher would stop and frown at the attendance sheet he'd just raise his hand and save them the trouble, because it couldn't be anyone else except his name.
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cael
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Post by cael on Sept 24, 2015 8:06:17 GMT -5
Also, another funny story about my poor husband - my little old WASP grandmother always called him "Pono" (it's actually Pano, and rhymes with Bono from U2) and we would always laugh since she couldn't get it right. ONE TIME she said it correctly, then corrected herself back to Pono. She also called him Poncho once so now my dad calls him Poncho once in a while. Sometimes other Greeks call him Panos, which is technically the "right" version of that nickname.
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Green Eyed Lady
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Post by Green Eyed Lady on Sept 24, 2015 8:08:13 GMT -5
People misspell my name all the time. It really doesn't bother me. I suppose it would if it were my mother doing it. Otherwise, I guess I don't really care. It is, however, something for parents to think about when naming their children. If you give your child a unique name or a common name with a unique spelling, chances are it is going to be butchered their entire lives. I guess people think it's way cool to be unique in naming their kids, but I'm not sure their kids appreciate it in the long run and they are the ones who have to live with it.
Nothing much can be done about last names, I suppose. Mine is very common so I've not had issues with it. I read of an Ashley whose name was spelled Ashole. I think the parents were way off the mark with that unique spelling. Oh dear. I suppose they thought it was very clever. Poor child.
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Sept 24, 2015 8:11:27 GMT -5
My maiden name is a boys name and my first name is foreign. So I always hated the first day of school when the teacher would decide my name must be out of order when doing roll call and shout "boy name" while I had to sheepishly raise my hand and say "no, that's my last name". By the time I hit 4th or 5th grade, most of the class would gear up during the pause to yell my name out before the teacher could attempt whatever. My husband always tells people that in school, when the teacher would stop and frown at the attendance sheet he'd just raise his hand and save them the trouble, because it couldn't be anyone else except his name. Yes, me too. It's funny, I went to a very non-diverse school. Everyone was white and either French of Irish. I'm also white but I was the "ethnic" one. Seriously every class I had was 4 Kristen, 4 Jessica, 2 Jennifer, 4 Matthew, 4 David, 2 Chris and me, Foreign name.
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tractor
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Post by tractor on Sept 24, 2015 8:13:02 GMT -5
My last name is quite long and often mid-spelled. Since it happens so often, you just kind of get used to it, I can still cash the checks even with a mid-spelled last name, so I really don't care. Fortunately, my first name is a simple three letter name that even first graders can get right.
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on Sept 24, 2015 8:20:06 GMT -5
I hate, hate, hate when people put an 'f' into my name instead of the normal 'ph'.
For instance - I email someone at work. My email is signed "Steph." They reply: "Hi Stef"
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Sept 24, 2015 8:39:29 GMT -5
I would not know how to pronounce xander. I would spell a name like that how it sounded. Since it is just a nickname I wouldnt even think there was a right or worng way to spell it. Granted, if you just heard us call him Xander (and never knew it was a shortened form of Alexander), I could see spelling it as you hear it. But we are talking about close family here - they knew his full name, and knew us well enough to use our chosen nickname (not the more common Alex). Both versions involve dropping a part of the name completely, just one is at the beginning, one at the end. Seemed pretty obvious to me, and easier to boot. Curious why you don't think there is a right/wrong way to spell a nickname. Nicknames are if anything more personal to an individual, since they get to choose them. I'd think proper chosen spelling would be important. Then again, some people view nicknames differently. My sister hates that her given name doesn't match the name everyone calls her. "If you wanted me to be X, then why didn't you name me X?" The nuns in grammar school wouldn't allow you to write anything but full names on school work, so that grated on her. Obviously she feels her nickname is "her", not her given name, and hates the confusion when she needs to use the full name. She deliberately gave her boys names that could not be turned into nicknames, due to her feelings. I'm the opposite - I tried to choose names for my kids that they could create multiple nicknames from, so they could have a choice to suit their personality. I get you. My name is Meghan and I shorten it to Megh in emails (with people I know, Meghan for those I don't/first correspondence), signature, everything. I'm not Meg. Just give me the damn h! I do think you can be partial with nicknames, since as you said, it's the more personal name you chose for yourself. I've been signing things with Megh since I was 15.
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gs11rmb
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Post by gs11rmb on Sept 24, 2015 9:13:15 GMT -5
My name is Gaelic and does not correspond to the English language. A co-worker was hired when I was on vacation and he told me later that he asked how to pronounce my name and was told "she doesn't care" . I'm not in the least offended when people can't spell or pronounce it and I always spell it phonetically if I'm ordering take-out. I'm also on the FB page and I'd be very surprised if anyone on YM can pronounce it without checking an Irish names website! My mum gave me an unusual name because she detested her own, simple name. Both of my girls have very simple, straightforward names and I admit to rolling my eyes at the 'unique' names given to children - as the recipient of one, it's a huge pain!
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on Sept 24, 2015 9:22:11 GMT -5
What is this Facebook group of which you all speak?
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Sept 24, 2015 9:29:36 GMT -5
It doesn't bother me, people mis-spell it all the time. Even people who clearly know how to spell it.
Some people in my office get very worked up about it though...and yes it's my fault because I know how to spell it, I just forget. We have Jodi, Jody, and Jodie...I miss the Jodi vs Jodie a lot and catch it myself...but occasionally it slips through. Jodi flips her lid. Jodie doesn't mind one bit.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Sept 24, 2015 9:39:49 GMT -5
This thread reminded me of this joke:
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Sept 24, 2015 9:50:34 GMT -5
I have a 2-syllable German surname. People have misspelled it and mispronounced it all my life. It ceased to bother me decades ago.
The people who continue to annoy me are those who know nothing about German spelling or pronunciation but insist that I am spelling or pronouncing my own name wrong. Those are the people I stare at until they become uncomfortable and wander off muttering to themselves.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Sept 24, 2015 9:58:15 GMT -5
Probably because if you hear it spoken, one might assume it is spelled Zander. They may not make the connection between Alexander and Xander.
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kittensaver
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Post by kittensaver on Sept 24, 2015 10:03:04 GMT -5
I have a 2-syllable German surname. People have misspelled it and mispronounced it all my life. It ceased to bother me decades ago.
The people who continue to annoy me are those who know nothing about German spelling or pronunciation but insist that I am spelling or pronouncing my own name wrong. Those are the people I stare at until they become uncomfortable and wander off muttering to themselves. My hairdresser has the same problem! She is Asian-American with a traditional Japanese first name (which is very pretty, btw). It is three syllables and in typical American style, people who sound it out phonetically always put the emphasis on the second syllable. The correct pronunciation is with the emphasis on the first syllable. When she tries to tell people this, some of them actually argue with her and try to tell her how to pronounce her own name!!!!
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gs11rmb
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Post by gs11rmb on Sept 24, 2015 10:31:05 GMT -5
I have a 2-syllable German surname. People have misspelled it and mispronounced it all my life. It ceased to bother me decades ago.
The people who continue to annoy me are those who know nothing about German spelling or pronunciation but insist that I am spelling or pronouncing my own name wrong. Those are the people I stare at until they become uncomfortable and wander off muttering to themselves. My hairdresser has the same problem! She is Asian-American with a traditional Japanese first name (which is very pretty, btw). It is three syllables and in typical American style, people who sound it out phonetically always put the emphasis on the second syllable. The correct pronunciation is with the emphasis on the first syllable. When she tries to tell people this, some of them actually argue with her and try to tell her how to pronounce her own name!!!! Ha! My name is also two syllables with the stress on the first. Americans always stress the second syllable. I don't correct anyone but I have been known to tease my American husband that he can't pronounce my name .
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 24, 2015 12:50:45 GMT -5
My name is Gaelic and does not correspond to the English language. A co-worker was hired when I was on vacation and he told me later that he asked how to pronounce my name and was told "she doesn't care" . I'm not in the least offended when people can't spell or pronounce it and I always spell it phonetically if I'm ordering take-out. I'm also on the FB page and I'd be very surprised if anyone on YM can pronounce it without checking an Irish names website! My mum gave me an unusual name because she detested her own, simple name. Both of my girls have very simple, straightforward names and I admit to rolling my eyes at the 'unique' names given to children - as the recipient of one, it's a huge pain! I don't think I've noticed you over there.....totally going to look now!
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Icelandic Woman
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Post by Icelandic Woman on Sept 24, 2015 13:50:05 GMT -5
I have the lesser used spelling of a common first name and I am used to it being spelled wrong especially by people that don't know me.
I have worked for my boss for 8 and a half years and she still misspells my last name. It doesn't bother me I just kid her about it.
My last name gets mispronounced all the time, I am used to that too.
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Icelandic Woman
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Post by Icelandic Woman on Sept 24, 2015 13:50:17 GMT -5
What is this Facebook group of which you all speak?
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8 Bit WWBG
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Post by 8 Bit WWBG on Sept 24, 2015 14:04:14 GMT -5
Not my name, but my address contains one which motivates people to assume one spelling over the real one. I automatically spell it after saying it now.
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