What's in a name?
 

I've been living in NZ for nearly 6 years so you think I would have worked out what people are saying with their Kiwi accent by now.

Today I answered the phone at work and the caller asked for Anne. I explained that they had the wrong number as we had nobody in the team called Anne. They didn't believe me and kept asking for Anne. I took their number and said if I found Anne, I would get her to call them back. It was only then that the penny dropped and they spelt out I-A-N!!

So, on recounting this story to a colleague later in the day, she said "Oh yeh, Ian, he's married to my friend Alan".
"Oh cool, did that wedding take place here recently since they changed the legislation on gay marriages?" I asked
"Eh?" she replied, "what are you talking about, Alan is a woman".
At this point I was really confused and asked her to spell Alan's name. She spelt it E-L-L-E-N.
Doh!!!
So, when she finished keeling over with laughter, she kept saying "ALAN...ALAN...ALAN"
then a voice from the corner of the room piped up with "STEVE, STEVE..."

Just like the meerkats :rofl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DljZvX3iCEA


Well, it was funny at the time!

Re: What's in a name?
 

I struggle with names too, as emphasis often seems to be in completely the wrong place. Meegan, Stephaaaarnie and all kinds of other unnecessary stretching of vowels.

I always get the Alans and Ellens confused; Ellen Read (NBR) is always introduced on the radio as Alan Read

The one that grates on my eardrums the most is Jorlie (Julie) and it must be dridful having to go through life being called the likes of Bin or Piggy.

Re: What's in a name?
 

And don't forget the weird pronunciation of Jaqueline as Jack-qui-leen :confused:

Re: What's in a name?
 

Good job my parents don't live here, they'd be Brinda & Jif!

My name's Anne & on introducing myself often get asked "Ian?" or "Alan?". So your story made me laugh. I look at my not insignificant boobs & think "Do I look like an Ian/Alan with these things?????" :confused:

Re: What's in a name?
 

:D my real name is Julie. Can you imagine how I feel. :banghead:

Re: What's in a name?
 

my daughters name is pronounced - cat te er
but for some reason they say Cart te er.
classmates now just call her kitty as they just don't get it. :sneaky:

Re: What's in a name?
 

Not quite the same thing but, there is a cake shop I go to on rare occasions. Three times in a row I have asked for the carrot cake (on display) and got home to find a completely different cake (the same one each time). On my fourth visit I was determined to check properly and ask the name of the other cake to work out why they kept doing it. Went back and the shop is now help yourself with new Chinese owners (kiwi ones before). I'm thinking it's an accent thing but I'm not sure.

On the subject of names, it's common to hear the 'th' pronounced in Anthony.

Re: What's in a name?
 

Oh good ones. May I just slip in 'another side of the coin" bit?

My sarf london husband pronounces maori ... merry. The kiwis love it.

Re: What's in a name?
 

:banghead: It irritates me no end when people make that mistake here (or call me Tony even) which is why I've insisted since the age of 8-9 that people (apart from teachers/doctors/elderly people etc) call me Ant.

Re: What's in a name?
 

That reminds me.... My name is Joanne. When I moved to the UK people kept calling me Joanna for some reason. I hated it so changed to Jo which was fine all round.

Re: What's in a name?
 

My daughter Joanna has the opposite problem in the UK - people called her Joanne. However, she insisted on being called Jo and it's only me that calls her Joanna when I am annoyed with her lol.

Re: What's in a name?
 

I am called all sorts of variations of my first name & it is often spelt incorrectly by others. Doesn't bother me really at all. I'll answer to 'oi you' if needs be.

A friend of mine has a daughter called Rebecca. She can't stick it for some reason among her friends , so insists on Becky with them. However, us oldies all call her Rebecca and I get the feeling she would feel a bit uncomfy if we started called her Becky.

People here often think our surname is my husband's first name. It is often pronounced with a double ee as in been and not an 'eh'' as in .....eh :p

Re: What's in a name?
 

Luckily my name is difficult to mispronounce, it's also very common:(

For some reason though, it's very rare for someone to spell my surname correctly and this happened in the UK as well. I now stress the letters they always get wrong, it's still always wrong. And on those occasions they get the letters correct, they tend to add an e on the end of it. I can't win!
My surname isn't that unheard of or bizarre either:sneaky:

Re: What's in a name?
 

One of my British colleagues (newly arrived in NZ) is struggling with some NZ placenames and has become amusement for the office! So we found this website to show that the UK has some interesting names too!

http://www.ashton-under-lyne.com/placenames.htm

Re: What's in a name?
 

Before my name (Dylan...I was born with wavy hair in Llanelli) became a yuppie English and NZ boys name there was only the poet with the same forename for 50 years. Hence people on hearing my name spoken would always imagine it to be spealt Dhillon and always expected me to have a very dark face and turban!:thumbdown: