An article about pain mitigation in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN quotes the chief of pain and palliative care at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. It's none other than Dr. Payne!

There is a sports reporter on VT around here named Steve Arena.

Anybody else have some apt names to share?

Wasn't the coach of the USA's world cup football (soccer) team named Arena as well?

My first obstetrician was Dr. Childs.

My husband's dentist was Dr. Hertz who's office was on Payne Avenue.

And Dr. Fix is one of the local Chiropractors!

my doctor's name is Long Le (pronounced "Lay"). he's not a sex therapist, but maybe he should be. selling viagra or something.

is that anything?∂

My aunt had a sex therapist called Dr. Harry Dick (poor guy, can you imagine growing up with a name like that?)

One thing I've often wondered about is how our given names influence the kind of people we become...

Prominent elected officials for Chicago, or for larger areas emcompassing it, include these (current or recent):

Dick Daley -- mayor of Chicago (current),
Dick Phalen -- county board president,
Dick Hardigan -- attorney general of the state, and
Dick Devine -- top state's attorney, for the county (current)

I swear, I am not making this up.

My bank manager: Mr Lotz
My vet: Dr Bark (I swear!)
My ex-doctor: Dr Ricketts
CEO of water utility company: Vincent Bath
Security manager of large company: Mr Keys

OH, these are a hoot! Welcome Julio! So happy to see you posting with us. I hope it is ok to call you Julio, as opposed to what I was going to say....JC....wonder how that would "influence the kind of person you become..."

[From the web; account abbreviated; there seem to be conflicting views of what was found there.]

Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love. According to myth she stopped in Knidos to wash herself of the seawater. In 1969, the architect [sic; should be "archeologiest"] Iris Love excavated at Knidos and found the ruins of Aphrodite's temple.

my doctor's name is Long Le (pronounced "Lay")
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Just this morning I had a customer named Bang Long. No, I didn't ask.

I have a client named Dick Johnson. What a handle for life!

Asa,
Good thread! As you saw in a previous post:
https://wordcraft.infopop.cc/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=441607094&f=410600694&m=220609315, I love funny names; my students' exams are full of them.

This one is a real one; name of an obstetrician:
Mabel C. Hiscock

"I love funny names; my students' exams are full of them."
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I wish I had saved a copy of the local phone book, circa 1985, wherein there was an unfortunate person listed under the name Penelope Poopstain. A Dutch name, perhaps, or maybe she worked in neonatology?

Some while ago in a nearby city two doctors were in practice together whose children we all hoped would join them. One was Jack Chitty, the other Cameron Bangs. Had they been joined by their progeny, they could have had the Chitty-Chitty-Bangs Bangs Clinic :

"I love funny names; my students' exams are full of them."
____________________

I wish I had saved a copy of the local phone book, circa 1985, wherein there was an unfortunate person listed under the name Penelope Poopstain. A Dutch name, perhaps, or maybe she worked in neonatology?

Some while ago in a nearby city two doctors were in practice together whose children we all hoped would join them. One was Jack Chitty, the other Cameron Bangs. Had they been joined by their progeny, they could have had the Chitty-Chitty-Bangs Bangs Clinic. :

Uh, Asa.....you are stuttering hon!

"Uh, Asa.....you are stuttering hon!"
_____________________________

Nah, that's not stutering. The first one was dingy grey, so I washed it and reposted it in glittering white.

Back in the days when I was a car nut I subscribed to a sports car magazine which had a journalist on staff named Bernard Cahier. Not funny until you know that Cahier in French means notebook.

Abbot & Costello had a hilarious routine playing on names with double meanings. The question was, "Who's on first?"

This mnemonic is given to english-speakers learning hebrew: "me is who; who is he; he is she." Why? Because:

• the hebrew pronoun meaning "who" is pronounced me;
• the hebrew pronoun meaning "he" is pronounced hoo; and
• the hebrew pronoun meaning "she" is pronounced hee.

"This mnemonic is given to english-speakers learning hebrew: "me is who; who is he;
he is she."
_________________________________

Does this help to explain the Michigan city of She-boy-gan?

quote:

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Originally posted by Asa Lovejoy:
Some while ago in a nearby city two doctors were in practice together whose children we all hoped would join them. One was Jack Chitty, the other Cameron Bangs. Had they been joined by their progeny, they could have had the Chitty-Chitty-Bangs Bangs Clinic. :

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In a related vein, I once knew an Emergency Room nurse by the name of Steve Banghart.

quote:

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In a related vein, I once knew an Emergency Room nurse by the name of Steve Banghart

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'Twas fate, no doubt, that this name would be takin' in vein?

[This message was edited by shufitz on Thu Aug 1st, 2002 at 7:34.]

OK, I just had to bring this thread back up to the top.

Wondering....does our very own Richard English belong here?

quote:

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Originally posted by Asa Lovejoy:

Anybody else have some apt names to share?

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Those are aptonyms! I just made that up.

Tinman

Tinman proposes "aptonym".

A few sites give the word aptRonym, which as best I can tell is in several on-line dictionaries but not in any printed ones. Apparently it was coinage (date unknown to me) which, though not in OED, achieved at least some recognition in The Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992) by Tom McArthur:

quote:

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Aptronym [from apt and -onym, with epenthetic r. Coined by Franklin P. Adams]. A name that matches its owner's occupation or character, often in a humorous or ironic way, such as William Rumhole, a London taverner.
[note: I take this quote from the web, not the original source]

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However, I would humbly suggest that timman's aptonym is better. I see no reason to insert that "enpenthetic r" to create "aptronym," particularly since the insertion violates the pattern of such r-less words as homonym, synonym etc.

I should add that the die has not yet been cast. Although aptronym gives more google hits than aptonym, they are far too few to suggest that the former has become standardized and accepted.

Oh, Shufitz! You beat me to it! I was so tired when I signed off last night, I didn't have time to post what I found:

quote:

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Aptronym is a word coined by Franklin P. Adams for a name that is aptly suited to its owner. In other words, an aptronym is a name that fits real good. Collecting aptronyms is generally good fun but gets a bit unnerving when you run into those which are horrifyingly apt: Will Drop, a Montreal window cleaner who died in a fall; and Willburn and Frizzel, who on the grim morning of October 6, 1941, went to the electric chair at the Florida State Prison.

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For more on this and many wonderful examples see this page!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by shufitz:

However, I would humbly suggest that timman's aptonym is better.

Thank you, Shufitz. What the hell's an "enpenthetic r", and what's the purpose of it?

Tinman

... asks tinman, "and what's the purpose of it?"

Well, first of all, it's a typo for "epenthetic" ( @ self), and I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who didn't know that word.

Per AHD: epenthesis (adj. epenthetic): the insertion of a sound in the middle of a word, as in Middle English thunder from Old English thunor.

>> "and what's the purpose of it?"
Exactly my point. "Aptronym" is an inferior coinage (and "aptonym", to which you subscribe, is preferable) in that it clumsily sticks an 'r' in the middle for no purpose whatsoever.

"Well, first of all, it's a typo for 'epenthetic'..."

Oops! Sorry, Shufitz.

"the insertion of a sound in the middle of a word, as in Middle English thunder from Old English thunor."

Yes, I read that definition, too, but it doesn't explain the reason for the insertion of the extra letter. I surmise that it is to make the word sound better or easier to pronounce, but I don't know. Thunder certainly sounds better to me than thunor. Was the d added by design or by accident?

There are probably legitimate words that have been created by epenthesis, though I don't know of any right off hand. There are words, probably lots of them, that are mispronounced by adding an extra letter in the middle of them, such as athalete for athlete (one of your pet peeves), -athalon for -athlon (biathlon, triathlon, decathlon). (I like that word. I could have used it in the last sentence instead of "...adding an extra letter in the middle of them...")

But there's always a reason, though we may not be aware of it. The [i]a in the above examples, I think, is added to make a smoother-flowing word. Bumping two consonants up against each other, as in hl in athlete (or any of the others above) makes for a rough transition between sounds. You pronouce the ath, stop, then the lete (or lon. The inserted a smooths out the transition from the h to the l sounds.

Anyway, that's my thinking. Athlete is one word I always mispronounced until my first year of college. My speech teacher would always make notes during our speeches, phonetically correcting our mispronunciations. To think that I had mispronounced athlete throughout junior high and high school and none of my English teachers had ever corrected me, is mind-boggling!

Pronunciation is another word I used to always mispronounce. Since the verb is -ounce, I assumed the now was also. Wrong! Why those two words have different endings, I'll never know. (unless someone tells me).

To get back to aptronym. Why did Adams add the r? Did he think it sounded better? I suppose we'll never know.

Tinman

[This message was edited by tinman on Sun Sep 8th, 2002 at 22:01.]

In phonology there is something called the intrusive r. Peter Roach (think he should have become an exterminator perhaps?) in English Phonetics and Phonology says that many RP (Received Pronunciation) speakers use r to link words ending with a vowel even when there is no justification from the spelling, as in:

'Formula A' pronounced 'Formular A'
'Australia all out' pronounced 'Australiar all out'
'media event' pronounced 'mediar event'.

Some teachers still regard this as incorrect or sub-standard pronunciation, but it is still widespread.

Linking r and intrusive r are special cases of juncture."

Although Roach doesn't precisely explain why this happens, I think tinman's assumption that it is used to make the pronunciation smoother is correct. It just seems to me that the intrusive r in this case is too intrusive! I like aptonym better too and have no difficulty saying it. Just wondering how I will work it into conversation now!

quote:

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Originally posted by museamuse:
In phonology there is something called the intrusive r.

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Thanks, museamuse! I living in Washington State, but many people pronounce it "Warshington". Is that the same thing?

Tinman

Though Roach describes the intrusive r as a phonological linking device between words, I think it could well be used to describe an r inserted between syllables. I'm not quite certain how euphonious it is though!

"There are probably legitimate words that have been created by epenthesis," says Tinman, "though I don't know of any right off hand."

Checking around, I found that empty and nimble are examples.
Each derives from an Old English or Middle English word that lacked the sound highlighted.

I living in Washington State, but many people pronounce it
"Warshington". Is that the same thing?
*************************
And I, who live in the state directly to your south, hear "Aura-gone" from folks from Eye-O-Way. I'm afraid that with the level of immigration (or in-migration, as the population experts call it when it's within the same country) our two states have experienced, the pronunciation has proved prophetic. The aura IS gone!

Asa, I am very sad to say that I am one who continually mispronounces your state. I have to take a roll-call of the states when I hold teleconferences for my job, and just last week I found myself saying "Ore gon again! Those habits are hard to break.
BTW, this is another deviated thread!

I heard about a very good surgeon the other day, named "Dr. Kill"; I'd have to think twice about being put under by him!

A deviated thread? Or just a bunch of deviates on a thread?

I have a very grumpy old retired physican customer named Dr. Dick.

I just heard another--a psychiatrist, named Dr. Huh????

In the news here in America: "Madelyne Toogood" -The lady videotaped by mall cameras as she beat her child. Perhaps it should be "Madelyne Toobad"?

Dan Druff who's a barber
Felicity Foote is a dance teacher
James Bugg is an exterminator

And some more well known ones:
William Wordsworth, the poet
Margaret Court, the tennis player
Sally Ride, the astronaut
Jim Kick, the football player
Lorena Bobbitt (and she did)

That last post of yours is absolutely too good, Kalleh; right on point.

While still unconfirmed, a workmate said the the one and only Ob/Gyn in the town of Baker City, Oregon is named Dr. Boner. I Googled the name and got several non-porn site hits, so it's probably true.

Asa, too bad he wasn't an orthopedic surgeon!

This isn't about people's names, but I recently found that the business school at Duke University is "Fuqua" School of Business. I kid you not! I wonder how it is pronounced. Along those lines, I used to know a resident named Dr. Fuchs, though he adamantly pronounced it "Dr. Fox".

"Fuqua" School of Business. / Dr. Fuchs
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A major producer of what used to be called "trailer houses," but have been yuppified into "Manufactured home" is Fuqua Industries. It's pronounced "Foo - Kwa." No fun at all. And I've heard "Fuchs" often pronounced "Foosh" or Fewks." Still no fun, but sooo close!

The New York Times reports today

quote:

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a tale that [baseball immortal Babe] Ruth, while staying at a cabin in Sudbury, about 20 miles west of Boston, hurled an upright piano off the porch into a small body of water called Willis Pond. ... a group of residents is determined to find the piano

Now, they are bringing in the big guns: an expert who found pieces of TWA Flight 800 off Long Island, has been investigating the crash of a China Airlines flight off Taiwan in May, and advised rescuers searching through watery basements and tunnels at Ground Zero.

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That expert's name is ....

John Fish

"Fish will scour Willis Pond with a side-scan sonar, a subbottom profiler and a magnetometer, a cornucopia of high-tech gadgets"

I just saw 2 more, and they are real:

British plumbers: Plummer and Leek
South African motorcycle dealer: Mr. Vroom

I saw a woman named Hazel Nut the other day. It reminded me of a game that my siblings and I used to play. If your last name were Nut, would you name your kid Hazel? Are there other funny ones that you can think of?

[This message was edited by Kalleh on Tue Oct 22nd, 2002 at 7:09.]

[This message was edited by Kalleh on Tue Oct 22nd, 2002 at 7:10.]

We had a radio announcer here with the given name Justin Case.

If your last name were Mohr, would you name your son Rob? (Well, my cousin's parents did!)

If your last name were Hunt, would you name your son Mike? (This pointed out to me by a gentleman named Hunt.)

If your last name were Vitis, would you name your daughter Ginger?

That's the name of a dental technician in a novel that I'm sure I'll never get around to writing.

France, in connection with the sniper attacks in our Washington, D.C. area, has notified Interpol about a French army deserter who is known as a marksman and is missing in North America. The spokesman for that French ministry is Jean-Francois Bureau.

Ah, Shufitz, you've reminded me of a French journalist for a sports car magazine back in the sixties named Bernard Cahier. His last name is "notebook" in French.