CAREY: _____’s a good name for one of the boys. I like it, but I don’t know. It might be hard for him to pronounce when he starts talking.
ME: You think?
CAREY: Well, what if he has a speech impediment or a problem with his Rs?
ME: Mm. I suppose that’s something to consider.
CAREY: I had a really hard time with my name growing up. It was embarrassing!
ME: “Cawey May Moyew.”
CAREY: It’s very common! Of course, you never had to worry about anything like that because, ohh, little Jeremy Bear pronounced everything perfectly! You even beat up your poor little sisters for saying anything wrong.
ME: It’s true. I’m not sure what to tell you, I was blessed with perfect diction. I just assumed it was how the world worked. To mispronounce was an insult to the gift of language!
CAREY: Ugh god.
ME: I’d look around, thinking, “you freaks know how to speak! You’re being lazy! Show a little respect and maturity, would you?”
CAREY: Well, there is some truth to that…
ME: What do you mean?
CAREY: All right, I’ve never admitted this to anyone, but I… hh. I sort of, I don’t know. Listen, I’m not proud of this.
ME: What are you talking about?
CAREY: There was a girl, I think her name was Tiffany. This was first grade. She was just so cool! Really cute, you know, all the boys liked her. And she knew it, too. She had the perfect little clothes, everything. She wore this puffy white coat all the time.
ME: Like Savannah Smiles, before she gets kidnapped?
CAREY: Uh. Sure.
ME: Well, technically, she wasn’t kidnapped. She ran away and was hiding out in the back seat of these felons’ car. But her parents put out this reward for her and… y’know, the story gets pretty sophisticated. But, yeah, puffy white coat, I get the picture.
CAREY: Anyhow, this girl, Tiffany, had a speech impediment. She had trouble with her Rs. And for some reason, it just made her even cuter! She could do no wrong!
ME: Man, c’mon, don’t tell me…
CAREY: Well, they put me in speech therapy and it cleared up the problem, but sometimes I’d, you know, for convenience, I’d pick my moments.
ME: You dropped your Rs for status, you little climber.
CAREY: It was a real low period, I admit it.
ME: Cawey May Moyew, gaming the system!
CAREY: If you’d seen this Tiffany and her outfits, you’d have understood.
ME: I wonder what she’s doing now.
CAREY: Probably something glamorous.
ME: Either that or hooking.
CAREY: That’s possible. She was always fancy.
Diction
25 May
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9 Responses to “Diction”
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May 27, 2011
[…] probably picked up from the previous entry that we’re not saying anything about names we’re considering. To be honest, […]
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You guys are hilarious.
Take it from me — just name the kids something that adults can pronounce. They may not be able to pronounce “Rs” for a couple of years but their names will be pronounced by adults for their entire lives.
Love,
You friend Kurstin/Kristen/Kristine
I LOVED that movie. And I totally understand, Cawey!
I still like Shadrach, Meshach, & Doug. Good names all.
Funny! – and Randy did name a dog Belshazzar once. really. “Belzie” for short. (Later we called him “Zeke). Good creative names. “Doug” – eh eh …. common. No punch.
Hysterical!
I think it might be impossible to pick the perfect names for your children unless you wait until they are about 5. My youngest Gwace. . . err. . . Grace still can’t say R. She’s been in speech thewapy for 3 years.
What’s actually worse is that Grace, the poorly named Grace, is about the clumsiest child you’ve ever met. She falls down every three steps, runs into walls and will periodically just fall off her dinner chair. There is talk of getting her a seatbelt for her chair at school.
I rather enjoy the irony.
My oldest, Caleb, pronounced his name “Taleb” until he was almost 6. No trouble with R’s and L’s, just that pesky hard C. Name ’em what ya like–they’ll figure out how to pronounce it eventually.
I just ran across your blog and this post, and I’m pretty sure I could be best friends with you and Carey. This is awesome!