What's in a name?
Sep. 9th, 2002 04:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mousmeMaybe it's just me, but I've always been rather protective of my name.
It's always been rather special to me, and it just irks me when people bandy it about and manhandle it as though it were just any other word.
Yes, I'm weird.
What's brought on this latest outburst? It was a client, naturally. "What was your name again?"
"Daphne."
"Okay, Daphne," as though he had just bitten into a month-old piece of broccoli, "I'd like you to(insert unreasonable feat of technically impossible engineering). "Will you do that for me, Daphne?"
"Sir, I'm afraid that that isn't technically feasible for me with the systems I have at my disposal. Perhaps you would consider (insert logical, acceptable solution as dictated by the laws of common sense)?"
"Okay, Daphne," as though someone had pissed in his mouth, "you're not listening to me. I'm a good client of Bell Mobility, Daphne, and you're going to (insert unreasonable feat of technically impossible engineering) or else I'll leave and go to another company."
*sigh*
The conversation went downhill from there.
I don't know why I'm so touchy about my name, and names in particular. I guess it's because one's name is so intrinsically linked to the idea one has of oneself.
I hate it when people mispell my name, and I try hard to spell other people's names correctly. I don't like having people unnecessarily shorten my name out of laziness. I hate the nickname "Daph." Other than the Loony Toons connotation (which I don't really mind that much), it just irks me that people can't be bothered to pronounce the last syllable of my name (it only has TWO!) or type the last two letters.
But people call you Phnee, you'll protest. Sure, but that nickname took some inventiveness and some effort on the part of the person who came up with it. (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fearsclave incidentally). It's not a mark of laziness, but a term of endearment.
Okay, end rant. I could go on, but then I'd get myself all worked up again. ;)
It's always been rather special to me, and it just irks me when people bandy it about and manhandle it as though it were just any other word.
Yes, I'm weird.
What's brought on this latest outburst? It was a client, naturally. "What was your name again?"
"Daphne."
"Okay, Daphne," as though he had just bitten into a month-old piece of broccoli, "I'd like you to(insert unreasonable feat of technically impossible engineering). "Will you do that for me, Daphne?"
"Sir, I'm afraid that that isn't technically feasible for me with the systems I have at my disposal. Perhaps you would consider (insert logical, acceptable solution as dictated by the laws of common sense)?"
"Okay, Daphne," as though someone had pissed in his mouth, "you're not listening to me. I'm a good client of Bell Mobility, Daphne, and you're going to (insert unreasonable feat of technically impossible engineering) or else I'll leave and go to another company."
*sigh*
The conversation went downhill from there.
I don't know why I'm so touchy about my name, and names in particular. I guess it's because one's name is so intrinsically linked to the idea one has of oneself.
I hate it when people mispell my name, and I try hard to spell other people's names correctly. I don't like having people unnecessarily shorten my name out of laziness. I hate the nickname "Daph." Other than the Loony Toons connotation (which I don't really mind that much), it just irks me that people can't be bothered to pronounce the last syllable of my name (it only has TWO!) or type the last two letters.
But people call you Phnee, you'll protest. Sure, but that nickname took some inventiveness and some effort on the part of the person who came up with it. (
fearsclave incidentally). It's not a mark of laziness, but a term of endearment.Okay, end rant. I could go on, but then I'd get myself all worked up again. ;)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Well...
Date: 2002-09-09 04:08 pm (UTC)...I'd just about run out of suffixes to tack onto the end of Daphne, so...:)
I know EXACTLY how you feel...
One of my Pet Peeves is not knowing a person's name... and I generally refuse to talk to anyone who I cannot identify by name. (I am also known to call people I game with by their PC names... ask Astrid or Orphrey... I mean Julia and Steve! :)))
I also make it a case and point to spell other people's name properly and address them correctly by name because I feel it is something that marks a person's identity as a human being... Period. When I talk to someone, I expect to be able to say... I talked to (insert name) and not I talked to "so and so", "an acquaintance", "someone"...
I know not all people don't like the name that they are born with... but I say without a name... you are just a "somebody"... and it sucks to JUST BE a "somebody"...
(I hope that made sense.)