Meaningful Names
Title
Meaningful Names
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"Some time ago, I was intrigued with the phenomenon of couples whose names rhymed, like my friend Barbara's sister and brother-in-law, Lawrence and Florence."
Date
2013-12-16
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Language
en
Identifier
MEANINGFUL_NAMES
Text
MEANINGFUL NAMES
Some time ago, I was intrigued with the phenomenon of couples whose names rhymed, like my friend Barbara’s sister and brother-in-law, Lawrence and Florence. So I thought and thought, and came up with a whole bunch more.
Today, I have been wondering how many first and second names there might be that could be misconstrued as something other than a person’s name. I had previously observed that my son Lewis’ job was a person’s name: Art Handler. Fran likes to tell the story of two young women passing Beth Israel hospital, and wondering aloud who was Beth Israel. If they found themselves on Beacon Street in Brookline, they would have come across Beth Pinchas, the Bostoner Rebbe’s Synagogue .
I recently heard someone called Paul Bearer, which sounds exactly like Pall Bearer. And how about all those Als: Al Dente, Al Fresco, Al Jazeera, and Al Qaeda. I understand “al” meant “the” in Arabic. It must mean something in Italian as well. There are one word Als, like Al Limony, Al Bino, and lots of one word places: Al Laska, Al Bania, Al Ameda, Al Hambra, Al Equippa etc.
I was hoping to come up with Abes, but the best I could do was Abs like abrupt, abridge, abroad, abuse, Abyssinia, and they don’t count because they are not pronounced with the long “a” like Abe.
While I was at it, I came up with Bill Payer, Bill N. Coo, and I am sure there are a bunch of other Bills. The same could be true for Jack: Knife, O. Lantern, Ina Box, Ass, Rabbit. I suspect Bingo players have had to put up with hearing B, which could be Bea, and waiting for the number, heard: Careful, Smart, There, Quiet, and Bea Have.
Justin is a wonderful first name, lending itself to last names like Case and Time. Similarly Frank, followed by Lee, Furter, N. Honest, N. Sense, N. Stein. A long time ago, there was a radio program which featured a couple of comedians who would greet each other weekly with a variation on “Hi Class,” with the response being “’Lo Class.” Hy is a perfectly good first name, joined to School, Way, Ho, Dan Seek, Rise, Time etc.
Finally, how about Johnny Pump, Lew Tenant, Minnie Apolis, Harry Ape, Ben Down, Charlie Horse, Gene Pool, Drew A. Blank, Drew Blood, Dick Hertz, Manny Moons, Helen Wheels, Rip Torn, Donna Shirt, Tom Tom, Erna Living, and from John McEnroe and a great airplane movie: Shirley You-must-be-joking. That’s All, Folks.
12-16-13
Some time ago, I was intrigued with the phenomenon of couples whose names rhymed, like my friend Barbara’s sister and brother-in-law, Lawrence and Florence. So I thought and thought, and came up with a whole bunch more.
Today, I have been wondering how many first and second names there might be that could be misconstrued as something other than a person’s name. I had previously observed that my son Lewis’ job was a person’s name: Art Handler. Fran likes to tell the story of two young women passing Beth Israel hospital, and wondering aloud who was Beth Israel. If they found themselves on Beacon Street in Brookline, they would have come across Beth Pinchas, the Bostoner Rebbe’s Synagogue .
I recently heard someone called Paul Bearer, which sounds exactly like Pall Bearer. And how about all those Als: Al Dente, Al Fresco, Al Jazeera, and Al Qaeda. I understand “al” meant “the” in Arabic. It must mean something in Italian as well. There are one word Als, like Al Limony, Al Bino, and lots of one word places: Al Laska, Al Bania, Al Ameda, Al Hambra, Al Equippa etc.
I was hoping to come up with Abes, but the best I could do was Abs like abrupt, abridge, abroad, abuse, Abyssinia, and they don’t count because they are not pronounced with the long “a” like Abe.
While I was at it, I came up with Bill Payer, Bill N. Coo, and I am sure there are a bunch of other Bills. The same could be true for Jack: Knife, O. Lantern, Ina Box, Ass, Rabbit. I suspect Bingo players have had to put up with hearing B, which could be Bea, and waiting for the number, heard: Careful, Smart, There, Quiet, and Bea Have.
Justin is a wonderful first name, lending itself to last names like Case and Time. Similarly Frank, followed by Lee, Furter, N. Honest, N. Sense, N. Stein. A long time ago, there was a radio program which featured a couple of comedians who would greet each other weekly with a variation on “Hi Class,” with the response being “’Lo Class.” Hy is a perfectly good first name, joined to School, Way, Ho, Dan Seek, Rise, Time etc.
Finally, how about Johnny Pump, Lew Tenant, Minnie Apolis, Harry Ape, Ben Down, Charlie Horse, Gene Pool, Drew A. Blank, Drew Blood, Dick Hertz, Manny Moons, Helen Wheels, Rip Torn, Donna Shirt, Tom Tom, Erna Living, and from John McEnroe and a great airplane movie: Shirley You-must-be-joking. That’s All, Folks.
12-16-13
Original Format
application/msword
Collection
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “Meaningful Names,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed April 26, 2024, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/216.