# A request when saying a name unfamiliar to you:

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-request-when-saying-a-name-unfamiliar-to-you/278604>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 7, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-request-when-saying-a-name-unfamiliar-to-you/278604 "2004-12-07T19:31:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![coilycat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8edcca/32.png) [@coilycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coilycat)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-request-when-saying-a-name-unfamiliar-to-you/278604/81 "2004-12-12T23:15:29Z")

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I asked about how Cecil is pronounced in some other forum, and the staff had nothing definitive to say. Most thought it was probably Seesil. That was my assumption, but then I thought that it might be Sessel. Like Basil Rathbone is Bazzel.

After that, every time I thought, “Seesil,” I heard Maggie Smith saying “Sessil.” Finally, Maggie Smith won out.

Now I like “sessile” because it means staying in the same place on the bottom of the ocean. Like sponges. But come to think of it, there’s also sisal, which seems to be a natural grass-fibery thing. Which sounds just like Seesle.

Now I’m going over to this other thread to talk about Keeyoto which drives me up the wall. “Is there a cow in Moscow?”

> **[Why can't we call folks what they want to be called?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=290526)**
>
> When I was studying French in junior high school, I remember it bothered me that they called their language Français, and we called it French. Mexicans call their language Español, but we call it Spanish. What we call English, they call Ingles. This...

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