# I do not believe you. In fact, I think you're a liar. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 22, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154 "2009-09-22T22:36:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/141 "2009-09-25T00:28:09Z")
> [@Velma](#): > > There is a local politician here named Mike Cox. I giggle whenever I see his signs in people’s yards. I don’t know why he doesn’t go by Michael, although I bet people remember his name this way! One of my family surnames was changed upon entry into the U.S.: The English Leacock. Apparently it was too embarrassing. So, it was changed to… Leacox. :rolleyes: > [@wmfellows](#): > > Not really terribly funny then, is it. Must be some American thing as I just can’t see the amusement value. > [@Shagnasty](#): > > I don’t agree with the OP in the purest sense because versions of this do happen but this is a racial joke for the most part. A partially illiterate black woman gives birth to a child and has no name in mind and names the child the first thing she sees or hears. It could be based on the Jello next to the bed or a Urine (Yur\_I\_nee) container. > [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Is she black in all the tellings? I’ve never associated the weird name UL’s with race, just stupidity. I have always interpreted this joke as racial, meant to poke fun at African Americans for daring to name their kids outside of mainstream white culture. My favoritest real name ever is CHIEW SUM CHOW. ---
**Author:** ![Tammi\_Terrell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Tammi\_Terrell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tammi_Terrell)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/142 "2009-09-25T01:13:28Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > The story goes that a woman who just gave birth was given lemon jello in the hospital, saw what it said, and thought that Lemongello (accent on the second syllable) would be a great name for her son. Same story with Orangello. I _suspect_ that the “-j/gello” twins had ancestors (see bolded text, below). > [@](#): > > [From Arthur Palmer Hudson, “Some Curious Negro Names,” _Southern Folklore Quarterly_ 2(4): 179-193, December, 1938.] > > TWINS > > Names of twins illustrate quests for beauty, rhyme, and the expression of humorous resignation to what must often be regarded as a calamity. Max and Climax, Kate and Duplicate, Pete and Repeat are apocryphal commonplaces. So, doubtless, is the pair of names said to have been taken from a county nurse’s midwife manual accidentally left behind in a Texas Negro cabin (one location) and given to the babies “because they sounded so pu’ty” – Go Norea and Syph Phillis. \*\*Others, however, given in good faith as authentic are \*\*. . . Pneumonia and Neuralgia; **Orange and Lemon (North Carolina Negro boys)**; Furman and Vermon; Gasoline and Kerosene … Hudson, then a folklorist at the University of North Carolina, remarked in a footnote on p. 183 that "[t]he only two printed sources of information are an article by Gertrude S. Carraway, in the Greensboro (N.C.) Daily News, January 9, 1938, from which I got about fifty names, and a brief Associated Press dispatch in the Birmingham [Alabama] Age-Herald, October 14, 1938, dated New Orleans, La. My other (personal) sources of information are, as well as I can account for them, the following: [and he goes on to name about fifty (presumably) white people from all over the South, but principally from Chapel Hill, NC]. > [@tdn](#): > > Similar story with Nosmo King. Just as a footnote … not long ago I discovered that the tale of how “Nosmo King” got his name is much older than I had thought: in American newspapers, it dates back at least to 1891. – Tammi Terrell ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/143 "2009-09-25T02:43:29Z")
I’m with the OP on this. Orangello, Lemongello, Asshole (Ashley), and Shithead just scream “bullshit.” However, I teach in a low-SES school in Phoenix, and have met two Champagnes and two Velvets. All four lived with grandparents when I dealt with them. All four are also African American. I have noticed a trend toward more “classic” names with AA males, though: I have a Shawn, a Carlton, and two Kenneth’s at school now. I know, it’s only four people, so not much of a trend, but our school is 80% Hispanic and 66% female, so having four AA males at once is a bit of a rarity to begin with! ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/144 "2009-09-25T05:38:34Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I went to school with a girl whose last name was Cocke. All the teachers would pronounce it “coke”, possibly because there was a set of twins with the same spelling who pronounced it that way. And every time they did this girl would emphatically correct them “no, it’s _COCK_”. > . Sorry slight hijack… back in University I worked as a bartender in the campus pub. One night some international students came in and this extremely attractive asian girl came up to the bar smiling at me and being really friendly. I asked what I could do for her and she replied “I would like to have your large cock, can you please give it to me?” I was blown away, thinking “Man, those asian girls don’t beat around the bush!” (I know, bad pun) Then I realized she was pointing at the big COKE sign behind me!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/145 "2009-09-25T16:03:55Z")
> [@Tammi\_Terrell](#): > > I _suspect_ that the “-j/gello” twins had ancestors (see bolded text, below). > [@](#): > > **Others, however, given in good faith as authentic are**. . . Pneumonia and Neuralgia; **Orange and Lemon (North Carolina Negro boys)** Although “given in good faith as authentic” is not the same thing as “authentic”, I don’t have trouble believing that there might once have been twins named Orange and Lemon. It’s not unheard of to name children after types of fruit (I’ve got a cousin named Cherry), and I get 880 hits in the Social Security Death Index for people with the first name “Orange” and 1000 for “Lemon”. There’s a reason why there’s no urban legend about kids named “Orange” and “Lemon”, though. Those names are unusual, but “Hey, there were once these kids named after fruit” isn’t much of a story. What humor there is in the legend of Oranjello and Lemonjello comes from the idea that the mother was stupid and pretentious. Either she was barely literate and picked the names off a package or hospital menu without knowing what they meant or how they were pronounced, or she just named her children after the first thing she saw after giving birth and tried to make the names sound fancier later by changing the pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/146 "2009-09-25T16:34:29Z")
Just to make this clear: so _Shi-thayd_ is not a common Indian name that is sometimes spelled “Shithead”? ---
**Author:** ![Amulet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Amulet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amulet)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/147 "2009-09-25T16:57:40Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > In my experience, hospital wristbands use “F” or “M” instead of “FEMALE” or “MALE”. I’ve still got the wristband from a recent ER visit, and it says “F”. I doubt that many hospitals would crowd the whole word “FEMALE” onto a tiny baby wristband when all medical personnel would understand what “F” meant. Male/Female are traditionally used as the first names on newborns when they are first admitted right after being born (as in Smith, Female). Most hospitals will keep them with that name until discharge, even after their parents have filled out the birth certificate. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/148 "2009-09-25T20:19:22Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I have actually met someone named Santangelo. I do not know whether it derives from “Saint Anne’s Jell-O.” Assuming you’re serious, it’s Italian and means “Blessed Angel.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/149 "2009-09-25T20:39:04Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Marciana (Martian) That one is a female form of Marciano, which in turn is a form of Marcial; so, it means martian but in the sense of “protected by the god of war,” not in the sense of coming from the planet. Dionicio, which **QtM** mentioned, is a typo on Dionisio (Dyonisius) caused by overcompensation. Sometimes people whose variant of Spanish uses _seseo_ (and who therefore would pronounce za, ce, ci, zo, zu as sa, se, si, so, su) smack a z/c where the spelling really does call for an s. I worked with an Hortencia along the same lines (the usual spelling is Hortensia). ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/150 "2009-09-25T20:43:50Z")
Russell Peters has a skit on the names: Sukhdeep (which Americans often pronounce as Suckdeep) Hardik (Harddick) Ramandeep (Ram 'em deep) None of them are pronounced like that in our culture, but unfortunately we don’t always plan ahead! I’ve always been grateful my name is just difficult and doesn’t sound like anything weird in English. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/151 "2009-09-25T20:58:51Z")
I knew a lovely biracial girl several years ago whose name was Golden Brown. Had she had been ugly it would have been quite sad, but as it turned out it fit her quite well. ---
**Author:** ![Faruiza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@Faruiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faruiza)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/152 "2009-09-25T21:14:10Z")
Originally posted by **Strassia** : > [@](#): > > While this could be a mean parent (see quote below), there are several fake names in my high school year book. “Sid Vicious” was a self edit, but a couple of subtle, mean jibes made it through editing as well. Yep. I’m totally prepared to accept that as a conclusion. It would be sort of uncomfortably unintentionally funny if that name came from stupidity on the parent’s part, but I don’t know which other explanation is sadder: a. Her parents did it to be mean in some way, or b. At least one person at school hated her so much that they’d saddle her with that name in a pretty enduring way. ---
**Author:** ![Tammi\_Terrell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Tammi\_Terrell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tammi_Terrell)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/153 "2009-09-25T21:59:21Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > There’s a reason why there’s no urban legend about kids named “Orange” and “Lemon”, though. Those names are unusual, but “Hey, there were once these kids named after fruit” isn’t much of a story. What humor there is in the legend of Oranjello and Lemonjello comes from the idea that the mother was stupid and pretentious. The point of my post, which I obviously didn’t make clear, is that it’s possible that urban legends involving children named Orangello and Lemongello and how they acquired their names may have been inspired by older, white perceptions of “bizarre Negro names” (whether or not those names were or are authentic). At least in the '30s (and I’m sure earlier) there were published commentaries along the lines of “what will those black folks think of next for naming their children!” As I pointed out, one such article appeared in a prominent journal devoted to Southern folklore; parts of its text reflect quite racist attitudes, not necessarily of the author, but of anecdotes involving how such names came to be. A good part of that text is devoted to “funny name” urban legends of the day, some of which survive today. In the end, I’ve not found anything to suggest that tales involving Orangello and Lemongello existed in the '30s, but I think it’s at least possible that the more modern (black) Orangello/Lemongello legends may have grown out of (white) anecdotes involving various (black) Oranges and Lemons of the past. Does this help? – Tammi Terrell ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/154 "2009-09-26T16:21:17Z")
> [@Tammi\_Terrell](#): > > In the end, I’ve not found anything to suggest that tales involving Orangello and Lemongello existed in the '30s, but I think it’s at least possible that the more modern (black) Orangello/Lemongello legends may have grown out of (white) anecdotes involving various (black) Oranges and Lemons of the past. It seems unlikely to me that a story about boys named Orange and Lemon would have been passed around much because, as I said before, it isn’t especially funny or memorable. A story about a kid named “Latrine” (true or not) is worth repeating, but “Orange” and “Lemon”? There’s probably no way to know for sure, but it doesn’t strike me as an anecdote that would have been told often enough to evolve into anything else. It seems just as likely to me that the story of “Oranjello” and “Lemonjello” was invented as a companion to the many other stories about ignorant black women naming their kids after things they saw or read in the hospital. It may have helped that “Lemongello” is a real last name. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/155 "2009-09-28T08:04:25Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Worked with a guy whose surname was Pinkstaff. He was Gay-Pretty, but claimed to be straight. His name did not serve him well in that regard. I have a business card from a Dick Pinkstaff. No joke. ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/156 "2009-09-28T09:25:42Z")
My dad worked with a guy named Oliver Dickey,not sure of the spelling of the surname. One of my first roommates was J.R. Ewing, he also had a brother Bobby and a sister Pam, No shit! Around here we have an unusual amount of women named Mary Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/157 "2009-09-28T19:09:23Z")
I knew a fellow named Duk Wing and a girl named Anita Hicky. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/158 "2009-09-28T19:10:59Z")
I used to work with a couple of guys named FK Yu and, no joke, Dick Orifice. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/159 "2009-09-28T19:20:48Z")
So, Duncan Donuts is not likely to be a “real” name then? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154/160 "2009-09-28T19:24:35Z")
> [@Tibbytoes](#): > > I knew a fellow named Duk Wing and a girl named Anita Hicky. …and, I really wasn’t going to mention this, for fear of losing credibility, but Anita’s middle name is, Vagina…no, really, it is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-believe-you-in-fact-i-think-youre-a-liar/511154.md?page=9)