# I give up. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 8, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879 "2007-08-08T17:00:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/41 "2007-08-08T18:15:25Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] My first name IRL is Mark. With a “k”, _not_ a “c”. I’ve known a coupla “Marcs” over the years, but “mark” is much for common in the US. Yet, time after time, people pronounce it “Marc”. It has gotten so that I do not even correct them. [/QUOTE] Er…i can’t tell the difference. I pronounce them the same way - how do these people pronounce it differently? Marce? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/42 "2007-08-08T18:17:25Z")
[QUOTE=DiosaBellissima] Angel totally sounds like…a 45 year old woman chain smoking while in a leopard print spandex dress, platinum blonde, ratty hair, fuschia lipstick, and blue eye shadow. [/QUOTE] When I dated her, she went by Agnes. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/43 "2007-08-08T18:17:53Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] Er…i can’t tell the difference. I pronounce them the same way - how do these people pronounce it differently? Marce? [/QUOTE] Sorry, hon. J/K. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/44 "2007-08-08T18:20:08Z")
Actually, although I will still correct the occasional person, I’ve mostly given up on correcting people on pronouncing my name as well. While it doesn’t have the same phonetic tripwires as Angelique – “Eric” being my given name, which I suppose could be spelled “Erique” if you really, really wanted to compare phonetic similarities – it is still a pretty simple name. Four letters, ends in a consonant, though it’s a consonant that approximately zero words in the English language end with. (Adoptions from French or Latin notwithstanding) Whenever I answer the phone, I have been called (in addition to my actual name) Erin, Derrick, Darren, Darryl, Dave(?), Ernie(??), Evan, and Ma’am. (Apparently, to some, I sound like a ma’am. I know I’m no Barry White, but I ain’t Mama Harper, either!) I try and correct the people that I know I’m going to deal with regularly (account-holding clients), but I’ve given up on the end users. I just go with it. _Spelling_ my name still drives me nuts though. It’s E-R-I-C. There is no K. Anywhere. Not in place of the C, nor after it. Neither is there an A, either preceding, in place of, or following E. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/45 "2007-08-08T18:22:49Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] “Eric” being my given name, [/QUOTE] Well, thank god we have one Eric on this board. I was beginning to worry. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/46 "2007-08-08T18:23:17Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] Sorry, hon. J/K. 🆒 [/QUOTE] D’oh! ---
**Author:** ![neorxnawange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f4b2a3/32.png) [@neorxnawange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neorxnawange)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/47 "2007-08-08T18:25:32Z")
Well, to be fair Angelique is pronounced by many people as Ann-jell-ee-kay. One of my best friends in high school (named Angelique) pronounced her name that way. She’s hispanic so I think it may be the standard pronunciation for Spanish speakers, and the name always suggested to me that it would be more common in Spanish speaking circles. I feel for you though. My last name is simply impossible for non-French speakers to pronounce, though some of the attempts are so off base as to make me wonder if people have even the slightest grasp of basic phonics. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/48 "2007-08-08T18:27:59Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] Whenever I answer the phone, I have been called (in addition to my actual name) Erin, Derrick, Darren, Darryl, Dave(?), Ernie(??), Evan, and Ma’am. [/QUOTE] My weirdest one was Judy. Those of you who know mem know my name isn’t remotely close to Judy. And yet I said “Hi, this is \_\_\_\_.” and she said “Oh, hi, Judy…” ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/49 "2007-08-08T18:29:37Z")
[QUOTE=DiosaBellissima] Nothing that prolific, I assure you. The battle I have slowly given up on is a great one,\* the battle to get people to properly pronounce my name. \* So what great battle have you recently given up on? [/QUOTE] Well, it wasn’t recently, but it was a name battle. My given name is Elizabeth. For my entire school age career - Kindergarten through Graduate Degree - the exchange at the beginning of class went like this: Teacher Type Person: " XXXXXXXX, Elizabeth? Oh, should we call you Beth?" Elementary School Me: “No, it’s Liz” TTP: _disappointed_ “Oh.” ~_~ Middle School Me: “No, it’s Liz.” TTP: disappointed “Oh.” ~_~ High School Me: “No, it’s Liz.” TTP: _disappointed_ “Oh.” ~_~ Undergrad Me: “Sure” TTP: “Great, Beth!” ~_~ Grad Student Me: “Whatever is easiest for you” TTP: “Super, Beth!” So that’s how I became Beth instead of Liz. It was a war of attrition. ---
**Author:** ![Solfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Solfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solfy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/50 "2007-08-08T18:31:46Z")
I have given up ever being tan, either by real or artificial means. Working 9-5 I have no time to get sun exposure during the week (never mind the whole not good for you angle). Weekends are too busy to hang around with skin hanging out. The last few years I took the glare off my legs with artificial tans, but I don’t like the smell and feel of them. Last year I tried the gradual self-tanning moisturizers but I can still smell the dihydroxy acetone and they also felt sticky. I am embracing my natural fishbellyness! I will never quit insisting that people put the H on the end of my given name. Never! ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/51 "2007-08-08T18:32:24Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] My weirdest one was Judy. Those of you who know mem know my name isn’t remotely close to Judy. And yet I said “Hi, this is \_\_\_\_.” and she said “Oh, hi, Judy…” [/QUOTE] Was she a reincarnated Ellis Island worker? ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/52 "2007-08-08T18:32:39Z")
[QUOTE=Dorjän] My username is my real name. Try and pronounce it. (Eastern Europeans nearly always get it right the first time, everyone else is usually waaaaaay off.) [/QUOTE] Doorjamb? heheh I meant “Dorhan” ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/53 "2007-08-08T18:32:39Z")
To the OP: Don’t give up. Correct people when you can, but if they’re second-language good luck. Not a single soul in my ESL class could or can pronounce my name. I just go by “Tea_cher_!”. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/54 "2007-08-08T18:32:57Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] D’oh! [/QUOTE] Soooorry. ☹ There is a funny part to all o’ that though. A friend of mine is with a record label. She has gotten me some really cool autographed 8x10s (Eagles reunion fer instance). Well, she was working with Charlie Daniels and wanted to get me a signed photo. So she asks Mr Daniels to sign a pic, “to Mark”. So, Mr Daniels says, “How does he spell it?”. Mr friend replied (thinking Charlie is a lil slow), “M…A…R…”. Charlie looked up with a nasty scowl, “with a ‘c’ or a ‘k’”? When I met him _two years later_ he still remembered the incident. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/55 "2007-08-08T18:34:00Z")
One customer insists that my co-worker Harriet’s name is Ariel. “Is Ariel here?” “No…but Harriet is.” I get asked about my name too, but only because I have an accent. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/56 "2007-08-08T18:34:40Z")
[QUOTE=neorxnawange] Well, to be fair Angelique is pronounced by many people as Ann-jell-ee-kay. One of my best friends in high school (named Angelique) pronounced her name that way. She’s hispanic so I think it may be the standard pronunciation for Spanish speakers, and the name always suggested to me that it would be more common in Spanish speaking circles. [/QUOTE] I was born and raised in Southern California and quite literally 75% of my friends are either from Mexico or their parents are. I fluently speak Spanish and regularly talk to all kinds of folks who are native Spanish speakers or however you’d describe them They all call me “An-hell-eek-uh” with a very distinct “a” sound at the end. I once asked why not go with “An-hell-eek-eh” (like Enrique) and I was told that would be a boy’s name, the “a” makes it a girl’s name. But I’ve noticed that most other Angeliques tend to be black (just my personal observation). I’ve never met a Hispanic Angelique, but I’ve met tons of Angelicas that were Hispanic (Angelica being the Spanish version of the name). ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/57 "2007-08-08T18:35:20Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] Soooorry. ☹ [/QUOTE] Are you kidding? You had me hook, line, and sinker. It was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/58 "2007-08-08T18:41:03Z")
[QUOTE=El Cid Viscoso] To the OP: Don’t give up. Correct people when you can, but if they’re second-language good luck. Not a single soul in my ESL class could or can pronounce my name. I just go by “Tea_cher_!”. [/QUOTE] Interestingly, it’s the _gringos_ that get my name wrong most often. I don’t mind one bit being called “An-hell-eek-uh” by my Mexican (I’m from So Cal, so most of my Hispanic friends are Mexican) counterparts. It’s just a different pronounciation of my proper name, so it’s fine (particularly if Spanish is their first language). My fellow white folks though, jeez. In fact, I kid you not: a woman just called and we had this exchange: Her: “Hi, Can I talk to \_\_\_\_\_\_?” Me: “He’s not available right now. Can I take a message?” Her: “Is this his daughter?” Me: “Yes, ma’am.” Her: “It’s Jennifer, right?” Me: “No, it’s Angelique.” I’ve worked with this woman for the better part of a year and spoken to her rather frequently lately. Jennifer? It’s that goddamn “Q”, I’m telling you. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/59 "2007-08-08T18:46:33Z")
Well at least _yours_ translates. ☹ ☹ ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879/60 "2007-08-08T18:47:08Z")
My real name is Jill. It is not pronounced ‘Lisa,’ in any language of which I am aware. I am, however, frequently called Lisa, and have been for many, many, _many_ years. I answer to either one now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up/414879.md?page=4)