Was in the gym this morning and had a vague thought, while on the run...
What is in a name...?
There was a story I read once based on a chinese folktale, and there was a name in it which I can't get out of my head..Tikki Tikki Tinbo Nosi Nimbo Hoi POi Puski Poi Pando Hikki Pan Pan Nikki Nomi Adam Poi..!
Yes, that was the entire name..and the poor guy almost drowned to death because the gardener took very long to call out and warn him (for obvious reasons)...*giggle*..quite ridiculous come to think of it..but it had a point..
How and why do people chose the names they do, apart from the meaning...?
My name for one has a life of it's own. Till date no-one except my parents (who also have a slip of toungue now and then) have been able to pronounce my name,spell it or call it out properly. I'm so used to it now that I don't even realise the spelling mistakes or wrong pronounciations till someone else points it out! So much so that I've totally given up correcting anyone and I respong almost to any sound I hear...
To list them out, the few famous ones are shu [for ease of simplicity], sushi, suchee, schucchi[ ze germans of course], shushi, shucci, sujee[which time and again is changed to 'rava' for fun!]..and a classic chushi [ talk about role reversal!]...
I have now developed the art to relate to ...
Japanese food ,since my name is mistaken everytime i'm out to eat sushi, with thrilled looks of familiarity on the faces of the restaurant staff...
Chinese names, with the ever frequent mention of shu qi [the famous errrm star!],with a wide grin hanging over the person I'm being introduced to(waiting to break out into a chuckle)...
A german shoe [ since it's called a schuh]....
Shhhh...well for a simple reason that I think someone might be calling out to me....
Ahh..shooo...a sneeze [deliberate or genuine] that fools me everytime!I little far fetched you'd say..but true..
Almost every second word in mandarin since sh and ch are the main syllables in their entire language..so if u find me frantically turnin my head around like a mad cap..don't fret..I'm just trying to figure out who called out to me..if at all..
Whatever meaning my name proudly carried on its shoulders is ruined, smothered, beaten and hung every single day...and I watch it happen without a tear in my eye anymore..
..it was officially declared dead the day I picked up the phone and took 5 minutes just to say ' Hi shuchi speaking'..!
I concluded [ along with my run] that it doesn't matter what you're called as long as you recognise the various sounds, pitches, tones, noises etc etc that could be your name..not something everyone didn't already know..but who said I was on the path to discovery anyway...
was a thought..random...
..just as random as I feel this morning..I need my caffeine shot...
32 comments:
well I've had some funny pronunciations myself.
Many tamilians (esp in Madras) used to conveniently replace the 'H' in my name with G.. so it became Rogith (and Mohan becomes Mogan). But Kamal Hassan still is Kamal Hassan and not Gassan!!
Chinese pronounce R as Arrreee
so..... my name would get casually stretched.
But best of all was my cousin (2 years then) couldn't pronounce my name when I was born and so he conveniently decided to call me Lolly and ever since then...
One thing that has always interested me is : knowing a person already by a name and knowing him/her for quite some time, try fitting in another name for that person and find the next best name for him/her.
Also when you hear of a name, I usually try and picture what he/she would look like.
E.g An aditya would have a wide rainbow smile, nameeth would be someone tall, prashanth would be someone fair etc etc
Cheers
Lolly
Further to add,
None of my friends have spelled my name right the first time (let alone ever)
Its Rohith and not Rohit!!
and gals have always asked me why the H at the end. is it some south indian thingie?
when it is actually sanskrit.
Lolly
what about a Shuchi?
I think a Lolly wud be gay..hehehehehe..;)...
kidding kidding..*ducking for cover*..
a shuchi would be northie bi#$h :p
Lolly
hey atleast your names sound like your given name.. heres a list of mine..:
gays
gaya
tri
3cows
gayaThree
:(
and unlike most south indians ( or as Lolly would have it "sanskrit") i dont write it as gayathri.. so south indians have a difficulty digesting the spelling . For some reason they keep thinking its wrong..
and to add to what Lolly said : Rohit and Rohith are BOTH correct. Because in the north they pronounce the "t" the same way the "th" is pronounced in the south, so in the north my spelling is gayatri , and in the south it's gayathri. Both said the same way! ..or at least supposed to be said the same way!
ok on a serious note
shuchi reminds me of that friendly neighbourhood girl... u know when live in a colony or aprtment, the one who would help kids in the neighbourhood, play with them etc
Lolly
gayatri/gayathri is a very common name
in fact if u run down in any street in south india and shout out gayatri, you might have a few come and line up infront of u.
am surprised people mis promounce yours
Lolly
Japanuese food
Ahemm... was that some kind of revenge you were attempting? :-p
--(as you said, what's in the name)
i didnt say people mispronounce it .. just murder it.. !
caffeine...not caffeiene.. but whats in a name! hehe
haha...whos u anonymous..? revenge and japanese together dun ring a bell to me so not sure what ure talking abt;)
yes yes gayatri I agree with every word u said..
...psssst dun do spell check online!!
on the brighter side, allergic_to_alliterations would be a lot harder to pronounce and spell.. right?
aren't you glad that your parents were not as thoughtful as you are..? ;)
haha..yes most definitely..
mum wud vouch for that..am surprised she hasn't said anything here yet..
helllooo...mommmyyyy??
well shu since u are waiting for my comment.....hmmmm...thr is another mispronounciation which i wont mention here coz u'll tear me apart..but for all u fellow commentors ,shuchi( again a sanskrit word ) means ' pure ' and she definitely is keeping up to it..and to hell with all who mis pronounce it..i love the name...sweet n simple and kudos to us parents who named her...( no harm in praising oneself ...)and i'm glad we were not as thoughtful as shuchi ...heaven help her if we had been so!!!!!!!!!!
"shuchi" alwez reminds of this kannada word - "huchchi" :D
now its my turn to duck for cover...
iyer
Hi! whats your name?
Amrita.
Oh Rita? Nice to meet you.
*giving up*
ARRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH
Hi Shuchi,
Enjoyed reading ur post on names... ~ Nice blog.
Thought of this quote by dear ol' Shakespeare with ur musings on the difference names make ~
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet."
~ Romeo and Juliet (2.2.1-2)
...& ur mom's response was luvly too;)
Do take care & Wishes,
Minerva*
Iyer,
huchi yes. but kuchi no way :)
Lolly
Thanks Minerva...was fun writing it too:)! I know that quote from shakespeare..hmm he always made so much sense..and in such a unique way..
As for you Mr lolly..sadly the huchi and the kuchi has already been discovered before the 3 potties..:P I just din wanna mention those on the post..along with a few others..*grin*
I am discovering new names for myself everyday...I remember the time when I used to be home from school hols and call a friend whose maid ALWAYS used to called me shagufta or shalimar..coz she js cudnt gt the name and said 'main to yeh hee bolungee'..meaning i'll call you one of these only...argh talk abt mis-pronouncing! hehe eyyooohh...
Ok im sorry I've resisted the temptation way toooooooooo lonnnnnnnnng!! cannot help it anymore.. even if you kill me shuchi
anyone seen this movie called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.. anyway , I've seen that movie almost 20-30 times as a child and there's this song called "Chu-Chi Face"... so here goes.....
You're my little chu-chi face
My coo-chi, coo-chi, woo-chi little chu-chi face
Every time I look at you I sigh
And you're my little teddy bear
My lovey lovey dovey little teddy bear
You're the apfel strudel of mine eye
Your chu-chi woo-chi nose
Your chu-chi woo-chi eyes
They set my heart a flutter
Your ooo-chi coo-chi ways
Your ooo-chi coo-chi gaze
Wilts me down like meltings butter
You're my little chu-chi face
And you're my teddy bear
Together we're a chu-chi woo-chi, ooo-chi coo-chi pair
Whatever you may ask becomes my happy task
I only live to serve you
I never will divine what magic made you mine
I only know I don't deserve you
You're my little chu-chi face
And you're my teddy bear
Together we're a chu-chi woo-chi, ooo-chi coo-chi
Chu-chi, Woo-chi, Ooo-chi, Coo-chi pair
Chu-chi
Woo-chi
Ooo-chi
Coo-chi pair
**Blushed tomato red**
LOL...well that was new to me! and yes I will kill you but I can soooOooooOoooo see you sing it..hehe;) and ahem well it was a cute song..:P
Run madame I'm coming updtairs!! hehe
go watch the movie.. its damn sweet.. maybe a bit childish to watch it at this age.. but i still do!!
hahahahahaha....i think gayatri's little song from chitty chitty bang bang is hilarious...i cant stop laughing...poor u shuchi...or should i say chu- chi...wonder if someone comes up with some more songs..gawd..i remember u told me that when u were at ntu a prof asked u why ur name was not 'shu-ching'..there is definitely something in a name whatever we might say...do u all agree?
aye chu-chi's mom! :)
iyer
ni haw - xhu xhing !
:)
i must say shuchi....you've asked for this...!hahaha...
"apne haath pe hatodi maar di"!!!!!
Sigh sooo much discussion over a post tht was soo random and so sudden...hmm yes I think this is def a case of putting my own foot in my mouth..
hmm then again..i always do tht..lol..
I'm enjoying this peeps..keep the comments coming..bt errr try sticking to shuchi:P
i am really enjoying commenting on this post ..shuchi tumne 'apnee kabr khud khod lee'......BTW gay3 the proverb is..' apne pair par kulhaadi maarna'...not apne haath par hathodi maarna'...nevertheless u got the meaning across..as for u shuchi( see i used ur actual name)..dint know ur name could cause so much uproar..lets wait n see how many more comments..
gayatri just realised ur proverb was wrong..hahahahahaha....i din read it properly earlier but now that I did..its soo funnyyy!..lol..good work mother..!
hehe yes yes this post will go down in history:P
Hail SHUCHI...*wink*
kuhaadi hathodi.. hand leg.. both hurt.. whats in the name! hehe
I remember the tikki tikki story too! I can't get the name out of my head either, and it makes for a great story with kids :)
I was giving a reference to my friend on the Tikki tikki story that I had read long back on Tinkle as a child & was surprised to know that it exists on the net. The only variation is the name that changes from country to country. Still I tried to put the entire name in google & landed on your post. I finally proved to my friend that what I was saying is not nonsense in a sense that it is as real as your post.
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