How common a name is "JonBenet" anyway?

[Revenant Threshold]

I've never heard it before. Is this an American thing?

[Shagnasty]

Its not common at all and I have never heard of it before either. Different groups in American society often invent new names that seem to fit in well with their subculture. Jon Benet sounds French and vaguely aristocratic which her parents seemed to want because they were wealthy social climbers that were very into pageants.

[kunilou]

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JonBen%C3%A9t_Ramsey)

Her name is a combination of her father's first and middle names, John Bennett.

[Jodi]

Her name is a combination of her father's first and middle names, John Bennett.

Then dressed up in a fakeroo Fransh accent -- "Zhan benNAY." Which has always reminded me of "Jacques Penne [PenNAY]," the intentional Euro-snooting of mid-level American retailer J.C. Penney. See also "Kay Marche [MarSHAY]", a/k/a K-Mart.

(Yes, I am aware there should be an accent over the "e" in "Marche," but I dont' know how to do it.)

[Wendell Wagner]

She's probably the only person in the world to have that name.

[alice_in_wonderland]

Then dressed up in a fakeroo Fransh accent -- "Zhan benNAY." Which has always reminded me of "Jacques Penne [PenNAY]," the intentional Euro-snooting of mid-level American retailer J.C. Penney. See also "Kay Marche [MarSHAY]", a/k/a K-Mart.

(Yes, I am aware there should be an accent over the "e" in "Marche," but I dont' know how to do it.)


You forgot TarJHAY (Target) and VaLOO VaLAGHE (Value Village).

[RickJay]

You forgot TarJHAY (Target) and VaLOO VaLAGHE (Value Village).
The thing is, I've actually heard at least two people say "Tar-JHAY" and mean it seriously.

[Ficer67]

How serious can you be when you say, "Tar-jhay?"

[BwanaBob]

My wife and step-daughter refer to "Kohl's" as KO-LAY.
:D

[Shirley Ujest]

Any man who names his daughter after himself has serious boundary issues.

[JpnDude]

And let's not forget the French (fry) bistro named "Jacques en le Box"

[Sunspace]

I has no idea her name was intended to be vaguely French. I just thought, "John Bennet".

The French name ending in "et" does not have an accent. If it ended in only "e", it would have had an accent: "é".

Methinks the who issue needs a visit from the Forget commission, headed by Claude Forget, which studied unemployemnt insurance in Canada for the Mulroney Conservatives in 1986. Claude Forget was French and his name was pronounced "for-ZHAY", but I could never see the name without thinking pf the English word "forget". Which seems like a good idea. Way too much media attention on the events.

[davenportavenger]

Any man who names his daughter after himself has serious boundary issues.How is it any different from a man naming a son after himself? Not that I'm a big fan of that either.

[Wendell Wagner]

Revenant Threshold writes:

> Is this an American thing?

It's an American thing in the sense that Americans often make up new names for children, some of which are based on parents' names.

[Excalibre]

Revenant Threshold writes:

> Is this an American thing?

It's an American thing in the sense that Americans often make up new names for children, some of which are based on parents' names.
You don't really expect it outside of certain subcultures, though. Is her family Mormon?

[BMax]

You don't really expect it outside of certain subcultures, though. Is her family Mormon?
Not that I'm aware and they're certainly not black. Are there other subcultures in the US that give their kids foriegn sounding names?

[Excalibre]

Not that I'm aware and they're certainly not black. Are there other subcultures in the US that give their kids foriegn sounding names?
Well, foreigners sometimes do.

But the weird idea of trying to feminize the father's name seems particularly similar to Utah Mormon naming practices to me; her name is not just invented (as with a lot of African-American names), it's her father's name.

[jjimm]

The French name ending in "et" does not have an accent.True, but it is still pronounced the same way (or should I sé the sém wé?). As in cachet, guichet, etc.

There's an area of Cardiff called Splott, and allegedly some of the yuppie incomers a few years ago were trying to get people to pronounce it Sploh with a French accent.

[Ceejaytee]

I know someone whose first name is DeNeil. She's named for her father Neil, so her name "means" "of Neil." I use quotes around "mean" because it's made up. I suppose you could claim it was based on Spanish ('de" meaning "of"), but her last name is Polish-sounding. She's a white female American non-Mormon, so I guess the inventing of names is not limited to Mormon or black subcultures.

[Hypnagogic Jerk]

Methinks the who issue needs a visit from the Forget commission, headed by Claude Forget, which studied unemployemnt insurance in Canada for the Mulroney Conservatives in 1986. Claude Forget was French and his name was pronounced "for-ZHAY", but I could never see the name without thinking pf the English word "forget". Which seems like a good idea. Way too much media attention on the events.
That's not quite how you would pronounce "Forget" in French. The "et" isn't pronounced "ay", but closer to how you would say "get", except without the "t" sound. As well, both syllables are equally accented.

Any man who names his daughter after himself has serious boundary issues.
[Kahn Souphanousinphone]

Kahn Junior, if you don't come here right now, you are no longer my son!

[/Kahn Souphanousinphone]

[Sunspace]

That's not quite how you would pronounce "Forget" in French. The "et" isn't pronounced "ay", but closer to how you would say "get", except without the "t" sound. As well, both syllables are equally accented. I stand corrected.

(Must resume studying French...)

[h.sapiens]

My own rather unique first name is a combination of my mother's middle name and her mother's first name, but spelled slightly differently. None of my three siblings has a "made up" name. Midwestern middle-European Catholic background.

[Excalibre]

That's not quite how you would pronounce "Forget" in French. The "et" isn't pronounced "ay", but closer to how you would say "get", except without the "t" sound. As well, both syllables are equally accented.
It's not similar to how I would say "get".

[groman]

Not that I'm aware and they're certainly not black. Are there other subcultures in the US that give their kids foriegn sounding names?


Yeah, middle-upper class white people do. Delaney? Elise? Demetrius?

Ok those are REAL names, but as is Jean Bene, it just happens to be a spelled/combined name which is not too rare in of itself.

[Sattua]

What about Nigella Lawson? And her sister Thomasina? If I'm not mistaken, there was a third sister, also with a feminized man's name. And they're British, not American. They were a pretty prominent family, though.

[Wolfian]

Any man who names his daughter after himself has serious boundary issues.
My, what a broad brush you wield.

[Hypnagogic Jerk]

It's not similar to how I would say "get".
No, in the name "Forget" you don't pronounce the "t", as I said. (And of course the "g" are different too.) I guess I explained myself badly. What I meant was that in the name "Forget", the "e" is more open than Sunspace seemed to think. It is this vowel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-mid_front_unrounded_vowel), while if I understand him right, he claimed that it was this vowel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close-mid_front_unrounded_vowel).

[Hypnagogic Jerk]

Oh, and in some dialects of French, the "t" of "Forget" is pronounced. Not in the one I use, though.

[Harriet the Spry]

See Freakonomics for a more thorough study of how different classes of Americans name their children.

My take on the name JonBenet is that it is more typical of a name given by a lower socioeconomic class than the Ramseys. With wealth like theirs it is usually not felt "necessary" to give the child such a fancy, unique name. Celebrity parents are an exception. My take is that the Ramseys made a bad impression giving a name like that, because it is more typical of a lower-middle class family or of a genuine celebrity couple, neither of which describes them.

[Excalibre]

No, in the name "Forget" you don't pronounce the "t", as I said. (And of course the "g" are different too.) I guess I explained myself badly. What I meant was that in the name "Forget", the "e" is more open than Sunspace seemed to think. It is this vowel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-mid_front_unrounded_vowel), while if I understand him right, he claimed that it was this vowel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close-mid_front_unrounded_vowel).
I suspect the issue is with which dialect of English is in question. I knew that you were referring to the vowel in "get", but I don't think the vowel in the French "Forget" matches the vowel I'd use in the English "get".

[Excalibre]

I suspect the issue is with which dialect of English is in question. I knew that you were referring to the vowel in "get", but I don't think the vowel in the French "Forget" matches the vowel I'd use in the English "get".
And of course it depends on the dialect of French, as well. In Southern France, I think you would get a close-mid front vowel, since an open-mid vowel wouldn't be permitted in an open syllable in French dialects influenced by Occitan.

[PoorYorick]

What about Nigella Lawson? And her sister Thomasina? If I'm not mistaken, there was a third sister, also with a feminized man's name. And they're British, not American. They were a pretty prominent family, though.
I had a lower middle class farmer uncle named Marvin who named his daughter Marvina. Poor girl.

[Hypnagogic Jerk]

I suspect the issue is with which dialect of English is in question. I knew that you were referring to the vowel in "get", but I don't think the vowel in the French "Forget" matches the vowel I'd use in the English "get".
That's certainly possible. In my case, I use the same vowel in French "Forget" and in English "get", but other people may not do the same. Out of curiosity, how would you pronounce these two words?

[Excalibre]

That's certainly possible. In my case, I use the same vowel in French "Forget" and in English "get", but other people may not do the same. Out of curiosity, how would you pronounce these two words?
I don't know how to explain, because I think the differences are smaller than what could be captured by spelling the words phonetically. It's just that the mid-open front vowel and mid-close front vowel of English don't correspond precisely to the French ones, at least to my ear.

[faithfool]

Just another data point from a non-mormon white girl who knows people who fall into the same category. They had a girl and named her for her father, Don, and the most favorite aunt, Juanita. This resulted in the moniker of Donita. Everyone else can decide on if whether or not that was a good idea.

[gigi]

That's certainly possible. In my case, I use the same vowel in French "Forget" and in English "get", but other people may not do the same. Out of curiosity, how would you pronounce these two words?
I would say "Forget" in French as for-'zhay and "get" in English like "let", "pet", "et" "cet"era... "-et" in French as -ay: cachet, buffet,...

The thing is, I've actually heard at least two people say "Tar-JHAY" and mean it seriously.Including the French designer on their commercials who says "Do you Tar-zhay?"

[Excalibre]

Just another data point from a non-mormon white girl who knows people who fall into the same category. They had a girl and named her for her father, Don, and the most favorite aunt, Juanita. This resulted in the moniker of Donita. Everyone else can decide on if whether or not that was a good idea.
At least that one sounds like a name.

[gigi]

Oh, and when I have heard reporters refer to Jon Benet, they say "John Ben-ay", not "Zhan Ben-ay".

[Omega Glory]

She's probably the only person in the world to have that name.

Sort of. I once saw a picture of a little girl online that had been named Jona Benet. The picture showed the girl all dressed up in a pageant type gown. I'm guessing the parents knew very early on that they would be putting her in pageants since they chose that name for their newborn.

[Hypnagogic Jerk]

I don't know how to explain, because I think the differences are smaller than what could be captured by spelling the words phonetically. It's just that the mid-open front vowel and mid-close front vowel of English don't correspond precisely to the French ones, at least to my ear.
To my ear they are so close that I couldn't distinguish them. Again, maybe it depends on the dialect used. Or maybe your ear has just more training than mine.

I would say "Forget" in French as for-'zhay and "get" in English like "let", "pet", "et" "cet"era... "-et" in French as -ay: cachet, buffet,...
I know for sure that this is not how these words are pronounced in my dialect of French. I'd be curious to know if there are dialects of French where this is the usual pronounciation, which would explain how anglophones came into contact with it. Maybe, as Excalibre suggested, the Occitan-influenced dialects of Southern France do use this pronounciation.

[gigi]

I took high school French in New York State so I stand by it only shakily. ;)

[Excalibre]

To my ear they are so close that I couldn't distinguish them. Again, maybe it depends on the dialect used. Or maybe your ear has just more training than mine.
Or less. I'm not sure if I'm the only one, but I've noticed that I'm not always capable of recognizing two sounds as the same in different languages. There's even been a couple times in learning a foreign language that I had to retrain myself to make a sound, even if it was present in another language I knew, because I wasn't used to making it in the new context. I might be hearing wrongly on the basis of context as well. It might be all in my own head.


I know for sure that this is not how these words are pronounced in my dialect of French. I'd be curious to know if there are dialects of French where this is the usual pronounciation, which would explain how anglophones came into contact with it. Maybe, as Excalibre suggested, the Occitan-influenced dialects of Southern France do use this pronounciation.
The French of Southern France doesn't have the same distinction between mid-open and mid-close vowels. Unlike Standard French, but like Spanish and like Occitan, mid-open vowels are permitted only in closed syllables (syllables ending in consonants), and mid-close vowels are permitted only in open syllables.

[gigi]

OK, here's (http://www.askoxford.com/languages/fr/toi_french/pronunciation/) a French pronunciation guide with sound clips.

é, ée, hé, er, es, ez, et été, allé sounds not quite -ay but definitely not "get"; does the clip sound right to you? Because it sounds very close to what I meant.

[gigi]

Yep, I definitely got something a little wonky because I would say été pretty much like maison ou frère. I must refine myself!

OK, so the past tense "jeté"; I would say the first e like the English "get" and the second one more like "ay". Non?

[Sternvogel]

Whenever I've heard this man's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Forget) name pronounced, it's sounded like "Ghee For-ZHAY" to me.

Jodi: Bookmark this page (http://www.1728.com/altchar.htm) (compiled by our board's own wolf_meister), and you'll be able to correctly type marché and other foreign words complete with accent marks, umlauts, etc.

[Hypnagogic Jerk]

"Et", as in the conjunction is usually pronounced with a mid-close vowel (ay). Same thing for "été" and "allé", as shown in your guide. "Et" in words such as "chalet", "buffet" is usually (in my experience) pronounced with a mid-open vowel, same as the "ai" in "maison". I believe the "è" in "frère" would be pronounced similarly by most speakers of French, but when I say it, the sound is distinctly different. I believe it's actually a diphthong. I know that one of the characteristics of Quebec French (my dialect) is the use of diphthongs that have disappeared in other dialects of French, so I guess that explains it.

As for "jeté", the second vowel is your "ay", but the first is yet another one. I think it's a schwa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa), but I will wait for Excalibre or another linguist to confirm or infirm.

[Anaamika]

Any man who names his daughter after himself has serious boundary issues.
Possibly. Although it is common in E. Indian culture to give the daughter an alternate name based on a feminization of her father's name. For example, my father's name is Inder, and my alternate name is Indri. It's a matter of legitimacy, I think.

I think they only use it during times of weddings and funerals, though.

[Excalibre]

"Et", as in the conjunction is usually pronounced with a mid-close vowel (ay). Same thing for "été" and "allé", as shown in your guide. "Et" in words such as "chalet", "buffet" is usually (in my experience) pronounced with a mid-open vowel, same as the "ai" in "maison". I believe the "è" in "frère" would be pronounced similarly by most speakers of French, but when I say it, the sound is distinctly different. I believe it's actually a diphthong. I know that one of the characteristics of Quebec French (my dialect) is the use of diphthongs that have disappeared in other dialects of French, so I guess that explains it.

As for "jeté", the second vowel is your "ay", but the first is yet another one. I think it's a schwa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa), but I will wait for Excalibre or another linguist to confirm or infirm.
Mmm . . . see, I don't speak French very well. I've never noticed different vowels in "chalet" and "été". It's possible I've been pronouncing it wrong for all these years.

[stuyguy]

What I want to know is how many newborn girls have been given the name in the past 10 years?

[gigi]

What I want to know is how many newborn girls have been given the name in the past 10 years?Well, according to the SSA it wasn't in the top 1000.

[AwSnappity]

"Et", as in the conjunction is usually pronounced with a mid-close vowel (ay). Same thing for "été" and "allé", as shown in your guide. "Et" in words such as "chalet", "buffet" is usually (in my experience) pronounced with a mid-open vowel, same as the "ai" in "maison". I believe the "è" in "frère" would be pronounced similarly by most speakers of French, but when I say it, the sound is distinctly different. I believe it's actually a diphthong. I know that one of the characteristics of Quebec French (my dialect) is the use of diphthongs that have disappeared in other dialects of French, so I guess that explains it.

As for "jeté", the second vowel is your "ay", but the first is yet another one. I think it's a schwa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa), but I will wait for Excalibre or another linguist to confirm or infirm.
The first vowel sound in jeté is indeed a schwa.

In Parisian French, è, -et, ê, -ait, -ais, -aie, -aix, -aye are all represented by /ε/, which is the vowel sound in the English "get". In the middle of a word, -ai is also pronounced /ε/, like in "maire" or "maison"; at the end of a word, however, -ai is /e/ (the é vowel). This allows francophones to differentiate between the future tense (je danserai) and the conditional tense (je parlerais). Also, in Parisian French these vowels remain pure--no diphthongs.

[AwSnappity]

I forgot to emphasize the point severus made about "et" (the conjunction) being pronounced /e/. This is in contrast to "est" (the verb), which is pronounced /ε/.

[Excalibre]

The first vowel sound in jeté is indeed a schwa.

In Parisian French, è, -et, ê, -ait, -ais, -aie, -aix, -aye are all represented by /ε/, which is the vowel sound in the English "get". In the middle of a word, -ai is also pronounced /ε/, like in "maire" or "maison"; at the end of a word, however, -ai is /e/ (the é vowel). This allows francophones to differentiate between the future tense (je danserai) and the conditional tense (je parlerais). Also, in Parisian French these vowels remain pure--no diphthongs.
Thank you for this, very informative.

Somewhere in my Romance linguistics class, the prof said that the distinction between "je danserai" and "je danserais" doesn't exist for most French speakers nowadays.

At any rate, I'd like to note that when I say "get", I have either a schwa or /I/.

[BMalion]

and yet another data point: My friends John and Stacy named their son Johstan, a combination of both of their first names.

[Excalibre]

and yet another data point: My friends John and Stacy named their son Johstan, a combination of both of their first names.
Did you at least try to talk them out of it?

[AwSnappity]

Somewhere in my Romance linguistics class, the prof said that the distinction between "je danserai" and "je danserais" doesn't exist for most French speakers nowadays.
Hm, I haven't heard this, but I don't doubt that it's true. Having not been in Paris for any substantial amount of time, I can't say for sure. I'll get back to you in February. :cool:

[DrDeth]

My own rather unique first name is a combination of my mother's middle name and her mother's first name, but spelled slightly differently. None of my three siblings has a "made up" name. Midwestern middle-European Catholic background.

I have to admit, if my first name was "Homo", I'd likely use my initial also. :p

It is "rather unique" however, I'l admit. :p

[mlerose]

and yet another data point: My friends John and Stacy named their son Johstan, a combination of both of their first names.

I know a couple, Jonni (wife) and Terry (husband) who named their daughter JoTerra.

Yes, JoTerra. Ugh.

[guizot]

It's been a while since I had to defend myself in French, but they only way I've heard of the famous thesaurus is [ro:∙ 3ai] (sorry, but the three is the only way I can make that IPA symbol.)

Anyway, I think that (in the U.S.) when people make up names like "JonBennet" it's either affectation or because they're from a community that has had its original culture very much stripped away (such as African-Americans).

However, I've noticed that people from Central America will very often have Biblical first names, and from Mexico more traditional Hispanic first names (except for those who name their daughters after soccer teams). But in Caribbean Colombia, it's very common to take an Anglo first name and mutate it in some bizarre way. Ex: Janes, Lisset, Marlys, Katis, etc.

[AwSnappity]

It's been a while since I had to defend myself in French, but they only way I've heard of the famous thesaurus is [ro:∙ 3ai] (sorry, but the three is the only way I can make that IPA symbol.I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. Roget's is named after Dr. Peter Roget, an English physician. Since he lived in a country that is not primarily francophone, it's understandable that the standard pronunciation of his name would get changed through diphthongs and relaxing the tongue.

The reason this hijack about French phonetics occurred was because Sunspace brought up Claude Forget, a guy primarily known in a francophone context (sorry for the ambiguity--I tried to look him up on Wikipedia, but I didn't get anything, and I'm not familiar with him). In this case, the standard pronunciation of his name would not be changed. When speaking English, it would be acceptable for you to say "For-jhay", just because we're not familiar with the vowel distinction. However, in French (which is what Sunspace was referring to), his name would be /foR3ε/. (Apologies for the crappy IPA.)

[Moirai]

JonBenet's name squicked me out when I heard it, too. Most dads probably name their SONS after themselves, not their daughters... Just icky and a bit wierd, considering the whole "sex up your six year old" thing...

Granted, I believe she was named after BOTH parents- isn't her full name JonBenet Patricia Ramsey?

It sounds more like a parental ego thing, more than anything else.

[rocking chair]

quite right, ejsgirl. she is named for both parents. and she does have an older brother that could have been a junior.

i figured on it being a southern 2 name thing. john and bennet really don't leave a lot of feminine room, so jonbenet with a french twist would work. a boy could have been jon-ben, so you would know which was being referenced.

[Moirai]

The boy could have been John Bennett, Jr. Would have made perfect sense, and made the parents seem less... odd.

[Monty]

sorry, but the three is the only way I can make that IPA symbol
Go to the SIL website (www.sil.org) and download both keyman and the IPA fonts. That way you can type the IPA symbols. Of course, the machine your reader's using must have the IPA font to see them correctly.

[Walloon]

I've never heard it before. Is this an American thing?You may be interested to know that Jon-Benet Julie Edwards was born in Liverpool, England, in April 2002.

Two others, born in Texas: Destinie Jon'benet Easley (1997) and Jonbenet Betsai Moreno (1997).

Of course, all three could have been influenced by the name of JonBenét Ramsey, who died in 1996.

[Jodi]

Destinie Jon'benet Easley

(a) Done-to-death first name
(b) Pointless cutsie alternate spelling
(c) Middle name for a murdered child (assumably no relation)
(d) Complete with pointless accent/apostrophe.

IMO, egregious offenses in child-naming such as this should be punished by jail time.

[Walloon]

You don't really expect it outside of certain subcultures, though. Is her family Mormon?The Ramseys were members of St. John's Episcopal Church (http://www.stjohnsboulder.org/) of Boulder, Colorado.

[Excalibre]

(a) Done-to-death first name
(b) Pointless cutsie alternate spelling
(c) Middle name for a murdered child (assumably no relation)
(d) Complete with pointless accent/apostrophe.

IMO, egregious offenses in child-naming such as this should be punished by jail time.
Agreed.

[Dunderman]

My friends John and Stacy named their son Johstan, a combination of both of their first names.A former teacher of mine made up and took the last name Haskå for herself as an adult. Why? Well, her mother was from the province of Halland and her father from the province of Skåne. As a classmate of mine put it: "So that's what's special about you, is it?".

[mrrealtime]

I have to say some of the comments in this thread are eerily glib considering we're talking about a 6 year old girl who was raped and murdered.

I imagine its simply reflective of societies response to 10 years of tabloid coverage and rampant speculation. I cant even imagine something that horrible happening to my own daughter, who also has an unusual name.

[antechinus]

You may be interested to know that Jon-Benet Julie Edwards was born in Liverpool, England, in April 2002.

Two others, born in Texas: Destinie Jon'benet Easley (1997) and Jonbenet Betsai Moreno (1997).

Of course, all three could have been influenced by the name of JonBenét Ramsey, who died in 1996.

WTF ... are these parents trying to choose the most ridiculous names for their kids - Destinie...Betsai?? They probably heard the name Jonbenet in the media and thought .. hmmm there's a stupid name, let's use that as well.

When we were kids, friends and I would crack up laughing at the names in the credits of American TV shows. Verb-names ... Skip, Chuck, Flip, Buzz, Chip, etc were always good for a laugh - but that's nothing compared to now.

[Walloon]

are these parents trying to choose the most ridiculous names for their kids - Destinie...Betsai??Betsai (also spelled Besai) is a name from the Bible. See Nehemiah 10:18.

[Acsenray]

and yet another data point: My friends John and Stacy named their son Johstan, a combination of both of their first names.

When I was in school, there was a brother and sister named Jeryl and Sherry. They were named after their parents, Jerry and Cheryl. They would have been born circa 1970.

[BMalion]

Did you at least try to talk them out of it?


Unfortunately, I was so stunned when I heard I temporarily lost my super-powers.

[Walloon]

Of course, Australians don't engage odd or silly nicknames (http://www.abc.net.au/sa/stories/s881913.htm), do they?

[guizot]

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. Roget's is named after Dr. Peter Roget, an English physician. Since he lived in a country that is not primarily francophone, it's understandable that the standard pronunciation of his name would get changed through diphthongs and relaxing the tongue. So Roget rhymes with "logic"?

[guizot]

. . . it's understandable that the standard pronunciation of his name would get changed through diphthongs and relaxing the tongue.Which are the dipthongs in "Roget" the rhyme with "logic"?

[AwSnappity]

I didn't say anywhere that Roget should rhyme with "logic", and rereading my posts I have absolutely no clue where you got that I did.

When you said that you'd only ever heard it pronounced [ro:∙ 3ai] (copying & pasting your own text), I interpreted the [ai] to be a diphthong, on par with the "ay" ending many anglophones use when they encounter a word with an /e/ (or an /ε/, for that matter). I interpreted your post to mean that you thought my post on /ε/, /e/, and their common spellings (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7706288&postcount=51) was incorrect. I responded by saying that the anglophone pronunciation of Roget was irrelevent, since we were talking about the francophone pronunciation of Forget.

So now it's your turn to explain yourself, because I have no idea where you're coming from. Are you reading secet parts of posts that I don't have access to? Why did you bring up Roget in the first place, and where did you get that I thought it rhymed with "logic"?

[antechinus]

Of course, Australians don't engage odd or silly nicknames (http://www.abc.net.au/sa/stories/s881913.htm), do they?
A thread on nicknames would be interesting. I wonder what other cultures and languages use for nicknames?

I know now that Skip, Chuck etc are nicknames, but since they appeared in credits, I previously assumed they where real christian names.