Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The dash isn't silent

I applaud uniqueness. In this day and age it’s important to stand out in a crowd, and what better way to do it than a one of a kind name. Just look at our soon to be president—it’s cool to have a name nobody else has. John and Jane have to worry about all the other folks people might be referencing, but when you have a name nobody else has, people will always know it’s you. Of course this can get a bit out of hand. Black people especially are known for always making up names that seem to take it just a bit too far. There is uniqueness…and then there is craziness. And I’m not so sure adding a –nique here, an apostrophe there, or a –qua over there makes it a desirable name. But to each their own, right? White people seem to be jumping on the bandwagon of distinctive names these days as well. And while they don’t seem to come out of nowhere, names like Apple and Shiloh still will cause a few eyebrows to rise. I just feel like there is a difference between words and names. But maybe that’s just me. I understand the need to stand out from a crowd, but let’s please all keep in mind that this moniker will stick with them for the rest of their lives. And do you remember how tough 2nd grade can be? Let’s not give the bullies more ammunition!

The other day however, I heard one that for me took the cake. Supposedly there is a young student residing in the great state of Georgia with the name La-a. My friend asked me how I would pronounce it. I suppose it’s like the name Leah but with an “a” sound instead of an “e”. This is really the only thing that makes plausible sense, right? Wrong. It’s pronounced LaDASHa. As in, the dash isn’t silent. My jaw stood open for a good 15 seconds before I started laughing hysterically. This poor kid. For the rest of her life she will have to explain to each and every person she meets that you pronounce the dash in her name. I’m all for originality but this is downright silliness! I’m wondering if anyone has heard of a name that tops this?

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I work with someone named Abeer, and its pronounced exactly how it looks, A Beer. Also knew a woman called Ebony Black. Both normal first and last names but together its just so redundant.
Then there was rebokina, her fam must have really liked Reeboks

and Cache Monet
When I first saw it I thought it was french or something then I kept saying it different ways and ended up saying cash money. Couldnt believe it that one.

Now La-a, I thought it would be exactly how it looks, La ah, but Ladasha? LOL Cant be serious. Ladasha is unique already, that dash wasnt necessary. Its like her parents got lazy when they wrote it on the birth certificate and said I dont feel like writing all that, just put a -.

I would just tell everyone to call me Dash then start running track cuz that would be the perfect nickname for it.

Andre Rafik said...

ay, i gotta give it up for the creativity. Its on a whole different level than your typical hood name. Sherquatta is one of my personal favorites. La-a is terrible but it brings a smile to my face, so i like it.

Anonymous said...

La-a is just stupid.

Jesus worked with a little girl who's name was pronounced Fe-ma-lee. She was a little Hatian girl whose parents immigrated here right before her birth. In the hospital, the had to place a name card for the baby bed and since the child wasn't named, the nurses took the liberty to simple put: Female.

The poor emigres didn't know that they simple put her gender, not her name. Now her name will forever be Female (pronounced Fe-ma-lee).

melanie said...

did you not approve of my last comment, bri? how come it never showed up?

anyway, yah, ladasha is retarded. poor girl.

i still can't stop laughing at jermajesty jackson, jermain's kid.

wow.

shiloh is normal though...just old fashioned. i think its also the name of a city in south carolina or somewhere.

i miss you! you know better than to not email your bestie when she's across the continent and an ocean and another continent!!! reach out!

xo

LaLa said...

THAT IS WRONG! Wrong wrong wrong. I am in awe of people so self-centered when naming their children. Come on..La-a...really? Same goes for apple. Or Erykah Badu's son Seven Sirius and daughter Puma!! These folks are dysfunctional.

Anonymous said...

there is a football player in the Canadian Football league named Laduphous. I dont even know how to spell it correctly.


Here are more http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061102200218AAS3S8L

Anonymous said...

LaDouphyous McCalla

Proof right here. http://www.cfl.ca/roster/show/id/141


This is way worse than La-a

Anonymous said...

That is SO wrong. There seriously needs to be some sort of child advocate to intervene in such an atrocity.

On a side note, she could always grow up and hang out with a girl I used to work with who’s name is Questian – yes, pronounced like “?”.

Anonymous said...

I went to junior high school with a girl named DeLabia. I kid you not.

I'm guessing her parents were absent during the female anatomy portion of their Biology class or at least guilty of not doing some much needed research.

"Christy", now that name is an atrocity.

Anonymous said...

and I thought my middle name was horrible, la-a is faaaaar worse!

p.s. HI MEL!! just wanted to tell you how beautiful and STAR-TASTIC you look on TV! hope you're having fun traveling.

k. carli said...

Bri----I don't think I can say anything that conveys my feelings about this outside of what has already been stated here. LOL. What I will say is that I'm ashamed to be a resident of Georgia for this one reason today...completed shamed!!!! LOL.

KT

Jackie E. said...

If you could see me now, you would see me sitting here, shaking my head. That poor child! I remember when I was doing an internship for my masters, I was working with some high school volleyball girls in Oakland and by the time they went around introduced themselves...Tanisha, Lakeisha, Sharonda, Laquisha, Moneefa...I was done, looking like a deer in headlights, lol! Suffice to say, introductions had to be done more than once.

t.v. said...

Here's an article where a federal judge ruled that black women no longer have independent naming rights for their children, because one black woman named her child "Clitoria"

Anonymous said...

OMG!!!! That is Hilarious!

Anonymous said...

ganorrhea brown....a 5th grader at my sons school in Hammond, IN. what does it look like to you?

i also knew some parents who named their sons maserati and delorean just like the cars....i guess they felt that it was time for the men to get car names as well.

D.P. said...

That is by far the worst name ever!! I went to high school with Shtameka Ruth (pronounced sha-tam-ma-meka).
My boy from Atlanta told me he knew a girl whose name was pronounced sha-theed but was spelled shithead. I never believed that one.

Anonymous said...

My best friend from high school seriously says he wants to name his son Courvoisier. I don't know what his problem is.

I also knew two little twin girls named Lexus and Mercedes. Their mother was a crackhead... literally.

Then I went to a strip club in Miami and there was an 18 year old dancer who told me her name was Moet. Of course assuming this was a stage name I asked her her real name, to which she responded dead ass serious, "that is my real name and I have a sister named Cristal (Cris-tall)." Poor girl was destined to be a stripper.

Anonymous said...

Ok, these are for real....went to college with Runt Short and to school with brother and sister Bourbon and Burgandy

Anonymous said...

My daughter was helping with Vacation Bible School one summer and met an inner-city child whose name was pronounced "Va-jean-a" but spelled "Vagina." Seriously. Not kidding. We couldn't help wondering if her brother's name was "Pee-nice."

Anonymous said...

My co-worker told me how she heard a black lady yelling at her son.
"Latrine! Get over here Latrine!"

My mom used to work at a bank, and she came across people with these names(no joke):
Christmas Snow, Rusty Pipe, Clark & Candy Barr, Frank N. Stein, & Harry Dick.

Anonymous said...

I was recently in the hospital. The patient in the next bed had his daughter and granddaughter visit a few times. The granddaughter's name is 'Adorable'. I guess this is okay but it sounds a little strange to hear a mother day 'Shut up, Adorable'.
This isn't meant to be a racist comment but don't these parents realize they're crippling the future of their children? Job applications should be colorblind and the waste basket is usually the next place their application goes after being reviewed.

Ashley said...

I found your blog by Googling La-a, because my friend was just telling me a few weeks ago that she had a customer named that, and she was pissed because nobody understood to pronounce the dash. I ran into my friend recently, and since La-a, she's also had a girl named Cappuccino. Come on, people! It takes stories like these to be grateful for my common name!

Unknown said...

G'Day. I have been reading a bunch of sites about le hyphen a and realised it is actually a racist thing. I am Australian and we don't have the rampant racism that is so prevalent in US. All I can say is you gyus suck. Really suck. If you start a sentence with " I don't mean to be racist..." rethink the rest of teh sentence. I do mean to be racist. I know a lot of Aymericans (as opposed to ayrabs) and the majority are not stoopid. From what i've seen on TV and internet most US people are really dumb. Check things out before you go off repeating stories from 3rd person perspectives. You come across as really ignorant and mean.
Jenni from Oz (and it is Ozzies not aw ss ies - get it right)

Anonymous said...

I think Chlorine or Shigella or Ebola would be good baby names.

There was a family with the surname Christmas in my home town. They named their daughter Mary. I'm not sure I could have resisted a temptation like that, either.

kylee said...

I know a La-a in here in Jersey.
Also a Traykiwanna.

Anonymous said...

Dick Butkus beats this by far.