Of all the animals of prey, man is the only sociable one.
Every one of us preys upon his neighbour, and yet we herd together.
The Beggar's Opera: John Gay

Monday 23 April 2012

By N E other name

Following JuliaM's post on names at Orphans of Liberty, here is a (genuine!) sign of the times.

A friend's brother - an inner-city clergyman - was recently approached by a young couple who wanted their daughter christened; to his relief, they wanted a relatively conventional name with a surprising suggestion of royalism.

Pleased at the thought of welcoming a new lamb to his flock, he set about writing down the child's details at the mother's dictation. She was, however, not satisfied:

"You've written it wrong; 's a K 'n then an 8, innit?".

4 comments:

  1. Well I suppose it's better than a K then a nine innit?

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  2. AFAIK, Bucko; I had it, if not from the horse's mouth, at least from the stame stable.

    Apparentlt he managed to convince the couple that it had to be spelt in letters in the parish records but there is, presumably, nothing to stop them using their preferred spelling when she starts school.

    Come to think of it, it's roughly five years since my pupils started trying to use things like gr8 or 2day in their essays on a regular basis, so we're about due for an outbreak of text-speak names.

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