Saturday, September 06, 2008

On Naming Children

Perhaps after this November we'll be able to forget who Sarah Palin is. Perhaps not.

I'm afraid, from what I've heard so far, that I don't care for her much.

What puts me off?

Many things - perhaps the least being what she called her bloody kids. Those aren't people names. Those are dog names, or cat names or pig names.

  • Track - a good name for a bloodhound or a retriever.
  • Bristol - I'd maybe give that name to a carthorse.
  • Willow - a pedigree cat or a pretty white rat.
  • Piper - a small spaniel or a Jack Russell Terrier.
  • Trig - would suit a collie or a mongrel.

What was she thinking?

15 comments:

Ronni said...

A lot of Americans consider traditional names to be boring, and will go to great lengths to find something different. not much sense of tradition used in naming children, in many cases.

Or sense, period.

I have a friend who named her daughter "Willow." It means "Life," according to the "New Age Baby Name Book."

I once saw a beautiful little red-haired girl in a shop, and she told me her name was Audrey. That is an old name that we don't hear very much, so I said, "I bet you were named after your grandma!" Right then, a lady came up and said, "Yes, she was, and I'm the grandma she's named for!"

I agree that Sarah's kids sound more like dogs, and I'm sure their kids will have very traditional names...

Nelly said...

Willow is probably the best of the lot. Here we'd associate the name with hippyness/new ageishness. Bristol would be an unfortunate name here as 'bristols' are old-fashioned slang for breasts.

I feel that politicians should have gravitas and that traditional names for their children would reflect that.

The general consensus in Britain, seems to be, that Sarah Palin is a bad choice. It's difficult to reconcile a belief in creationism with sense.

However she'll still be all over tomorrow's Sunday papers

Brig said...

Here in America the name Nellie would refer to an ol' car. (giggle)...
Lighten up a bit, ladies.

Ronni said...

As I am "here in America," I consider myself to be light as air.

There is a Bristol Bay in Alaska, and that may be the source of that name.

I'm thinking she probably didn't intend a life in Politics.

I don't like her, either. Too much Stepford and too little class.

Mudflapgypsy said...

Yeah, odd names. Her grandkids have to have more traitional names than that. I like the fact that she goes hunting, as long as she eats what she shoots but saying that the "War" in Iraq is a task from god......she is barking mad.

Don't you worry none my US friends I think ALL politcos are the same
and not in a good way neither.

Anonymous said...

According to polls, McCains bump is due to attracting more men than women - hard to tell whether due to his drum beating militarism or her ability to kill and gut a caribou.

I don't like her much either. I don't know many women who do. Her record as mayor/gov. shows a very autocratic bent to her leadership.

It also offends me that she says "nucular" (like Bush) instead of nuclear.

Anonymous said...

i do not like her, but i knew the second i saw her that many americans would love her.

Brig said...

You are worrying about the childrens names of a VP candidate?
Tis wondering I am that the most grevious fault lies in our inability to concentrate on the "important" issues before us.

Anonymous said...

Well, she looks good on camera... which is the same reason I read Nelly's blog.

:)

Nelly said...

I believe I said, when I wrote this post that 'many things' perturbed me about McCain's choice of a running mate. I then went on to say,

'perhaps the least being what she called her bloody kids..'

I don't really do politics on this blog although I am very interested. I'm also very interested in 'naming' and have written about it before. People give a lot away about themselves when they name things be they children, animals, houses or themselves.

I chose the name Nelly as a handle because of its association with plainness and its seeming lack of sophistication and pretension.

There was also a nod at my (then) weight - Nelly the Elephant.

And the full handle 'Nelly Moser' - that's one of the more popular large-flowered clematis - clematis being what Bert grows for a living.

Nelly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

It is a tad annoying when people leave comments on posts they have failed to read properly.

I agree about the significance of "naming".

Anyway hope you are having a good day.

Brig said...

It was interesting to hear about the name you choose for your blog. Have you named your newer chickens? Loved the names you gave the ol batch.

Nelly said...

We named the roosters but not the new chickens. Best not to name what we are going to eventually eat!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I dunno... you could call them Fryer, Roaster, Cacciatore...