I'll TELL you what's in a name, mister

[slemslempike]

Poll about spellings, inspired by Anne Shirley's assertion in Anne of Windy Willows/Poplars that "Catherine with a C is smug", causing her bitter colleague Katherine to start writing her name with a C in notes to Anne. Assume that both names would be pronounced the same (they are by me), just which spelling you prefer. I promise no repercussions for q5, I am just curious!

[Poll #1448127]

Also - can't be bothered to edit the poll to put this in - does your name get misspelled often, and does it annoy you?

Comments

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

This isn't quite the same thing at all, but have you ever seen this post? It's written by a white US woman who has a name that's generally read as a black woman's name, and talking about the reactions to it.

"I always knew, for example, without really articulating why, that I should go in person to fill out a job application. Make sure they see you, I would think, unconsciously. I always called after sending in a resume, made sure they heard me. But even so, it's always been a problem; I have always had trouble securing interviews if I didn't already know someone in the company. And I have always known why."

[morganmuffle]

That is interesting, thank you for the link.

It's amazing the assumptions we make about people based on such things really, assumptions that make HUGE differences to people's lives. I mean her name problems may be linked to racism but I have to say I suspect it would worry/confuse/unnerve me if I rang an IT helpline and got someone called, I don't know, Chardonnay or similar.