BlueKatSpecial

Sunday, April 23, 2006

A Real Life Muppet

As Anika can attest, when you're small the people around you spend a lot of time trying to define you, categorize you, make predictions and otherwise label you. Last weekend, some of us happened to fall into a conversation about names and what they signify. Remember how much planning went into Anika's name? How will it sound with her last name? What kind of initials will she have? What will her nickname be? Sometimes our reaction to a name is shaped by others we have known with that same name. If you have an ordinary name, you worry it prevents others from seeing you for the unique and special individual you really are. If you have an exotic name, you feel pressured to live up to any expectations your name creates. Of course, Second has his own theories and complicated formulas: Katherine with a "K" is all right but Catherine with a "C" becomes an entirely different ballgame. And then there's the actual meaning of the name. There are lots of web sites where you can search baby names by popularity and web sites that have the meanings of names in different languages. While these databases seem very large, they don't contain every possible spelling or version of a name. What the world really needs is a dictionary that generates the meaning, ad hoc. Different spelling, different meaning so every person's uniqueness is recognized. And what do you know, I'm going to give you a link to just such a thing. (You need to arrow down a few clicks when you get there.) How will you be defined in the dictionary? Post it in the comments, unless you're a "lewd street performer". P.S. "Onchu" is defined as a real life muppet.

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