Quote:
Originally Posted by LoALAnna  I know what you mean about last names. My own maiden name was a mouthful, but nothing like my poor husband's family had to go through. Seems like a lot of people (especially nurses for some reason) thought that "Van Damme" sounded too much like a curse word at the time, lol! Thanks to Jean-Claude, now its not so mispronounced!  |
Ah yes...Jean-Claude...sigh...
My maiden name was not such a big deal...and half the world couldn't get
that right, either!
When I was in HR...back then it was called "Personnel"...but that was before we were disposable 'resources'...lol...we had an employee whose last name was "Papaconstantino"...looked pretty simple to say with a little practice. And, yes, I would practice saying these people's name aloud in my car on the way home! lol However, I always put the emphasis on the "-ti" part ("Papaconstan-TI-no"), saying the rest 'straight' through. Then,
he called me one day and I found out
he said it "Papacon-STANT-ino"...oops! More practice! lol He was a really nice guy!
I also had a friend who claimed he was "a Russian Lithuanian Jew"...we'll skip his name for now...lol...and I still have a friend whose last name is Polish with very few vowels but she taught me how to say it properly. lol
Then there's the "Theriot" last name...I had friends who called themselves "The-ROW" and "THER-row"...but when I referred to the next person I encountered named the same, I was quickly corrected...they say their name "TER-ee-oh"...lol...who knew! Whatever...it is definitely "The-riot" that name...lol