I like this kind of project. Small in scope, quick to understand, attention-getting. It seems like a fun thing to make.
Put an end to people mispronouncing your name
31–40 of 147 posts
Re: Put an end to people mispronouncing your name
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
His name is probably "Marius". That's about as short as it gets as a name...
It's a great name, but it has three syllables and is uncommon enough for people to wonder if they should pronounce the "s" as he himself demonstrated. There's a reason you know William Gates and William Clinton as Bill Gates and Bill Clinton. Richard Cheney knows short name is so important, he'd rather be called "Dick" rather than his full name, "Richard". Short always wins. Mark isn't bad, by the way. Marius "Mark"…
It's pretty easy to imagine that somebody might get attached to their given name; maybe they were named for their grandparent, of whom they have a lot of fond memories. Maybe it's a connection to their family that they really cherish. Maybe they just really like the way their full name flows together. Suggesting that somebody "just change" their name to something that's only vaguely related because "it's just a collection of random syllables" seems to kind of miss the point of a name.
Re: Put an end to people mispronouncing your name
#33Re: Put an end to people mispronouncing your name
#34Honestly this seems really pretentious.
My last name is almost impossible. Even people who know me tend to just abbreviate it. Whenever I meet someone new who stumbles over my name. I just smile and say 'Don't worry about it, I said it wrong the first time too.' Then give the correct pronunciation. It's a good way to break the ice.
Conversely sending someone a link on how to correctly pronounce your name just screams 'I'm impossible to get along with'.
Re: Put an end to people mispronouncing your name
#35Several languages use compound nouns, proper and common. These cause pronunciation problems when the phrase is read atomically, instead of by parsing. For example, German armbunduhr is easily understood as arm+bund+uhr = clock around arm, or wrist watch. Since I speak languages that also build up compound nouns (e.g; chair = four+legs), I have no trouble recognizing the need to parse in other languages.
Re: Put an end to people mispronouncing your name
#36Yeah, I think it's a clever concept, but it seems almost egotistical to say, "Look, I care enough about how you pronounce my last name to embed a link in my email sig " Many people classically mispronounced my name - it's not a big deal, I move on. If we're not going to be having many conversations where you say my last name, I'm not even going to correct you.
I dunno; as somebody who's name gets mispronounced essentially all the time, I'm pretty sensitive about trying to pronounce other people's names properly. If they embed the pronunciation in their email, then a) I don't have to ask, and b) I can practice on my own time with a reference to make sure I have it correct. It's nice of them.
Re: Put an end to people mispronouncing your name
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a great name, but it has three syllables and is uncommon enough for people to wonder if they should pronounce the "s" as he himself demonstrated. There's a reason you know William Gates and William Clinton as Bill Gates and Bill Clinton. Richard Cheney knows short name is so important, he'd rather be called "Dick" rather than his full name, "Richard". Short always wins. Mark isn't bad, by the way. Marius "Mark"…
It's pretty easy to imagine that somebody might get attached to their given name; maybe they were named for their grandparent, of whom they have a lot of fond memories. Maybe it's a connection to their family that they really cherish. Maybe they just really like the way their full name flows together. Suggesting that somebody "just change" their name to something that's only vaguely related because "it's just a colle…
You suggest the point of a name is false associations and nostalgia. I think you're missing the point of a name.
The point of a name is so people don't refer to you as "hey you, the tall guy with the blue shirt". That's really it.
By the way, I have shortened my name. Saves a lot of trouble.
Re: Put an end to people mispronouncing your name
#38Mispronouncing someone's name is understandable. What gets me is people misspelling my name... after they've worked with me for years... and seen my name hundreds of times...
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. My last name is not hard to pronounce but if you haven't seen it you can pick 3/4 ways to spell it...but if I've worked with you for years and my email is firstinitial.lastname@ it drives me kind of crazy when I see people misspelling it.
Re: Put an end to people mispronouncing your name
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
His name is probably "Marius". That's about as short as it gets as a name...
It's a great name, but it has three syllables and is uncommon enough for people to wonder if they should pronounce the "s" as he himself demonstrated. There's a reason you know William Gates and William Clinton as Bill Gates and Bill Clinton. Richard Cheney knows short name is so important, he'd rather be called "Dick" rather than his full name, "Richard". Short always wins. Mark isn't bad, by the way. Marius "Mark"…
I knew a university athlete from the Congo with a tough to pronounce name. He started introducing himself as "Bob" during his flight to Canada.
Re: Put an end to people mispronouncing your name
#40Several languages use compound nouns, proper and common. These cause pronunciation problems when the phrase is read atomically, instead of by parsing. For example, German armbunduhr is easily understood as arm+bund+uhr = clock around arm, or wrist watch. Since I speak languages that also build up compound nouns (e.g; chair = four+legs), I have no trouble recognizing the need to parse in other languages.
It's Armbanduhr, though. So it's more like Armband (wristband) and Uhr (clock).
But your solution is at least equally clever! I never thought of that.