# Is it just me...\[seeing names as other words\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 7, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738 "2012-01-07T15:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/1 "2012-01-07T15:40:59Z")
…or do you always see Santorum as Sanatorium? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/2 "2012-01-07T16:42:01Z")
Changed the thread title to give more detail what the thread is about. Please try to make topic titles be less vague when you start a new one. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/3 "2012-01-07T16:50:47Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Changed the thread title to give more detail what the thread is about. > > Please try to make topic titles be less vague when you start a new one. Sorry 'bout that. I was hoping the thread might just go where individuals took it. The “seeing names as other words” was just a jumping-off point. The threads with Santorum’s name in the title just made me think of how that name affects me in print. Nothing against then man, necessarily. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/4 "2012-01-07T20:45:49Z")
Yes. Especially names like “Astrida Penis” (pronounced exactly liker “astride a penis”). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/5 "2012-01-08T07:59:03Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Yes. Especially names like “Astrida Penis” (pronounced exactly liker “astride a penis”). Well, as I had not run across that one before, I did a Yahoo! Search on it and guess what I found: [The funniest (human) names you’ve come across](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10181438) [Wow a magic penis](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=315527) I guess it helps if one pays attention… There must be at least one other thread dealing with this notion, you reckon? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/6 "2012-01-08T13:10:25Z")
I’m not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but a few weeks back my husband and I were looking for bakeries in our area. We were striking out with finding one that would handle our breads for us and starting to feel a bit nervous about it. So one day, we’re driving down the road and see a sign that reads Basically Beads. We were so excited. It wasn’t until we were practically inside the store that we realized that we both read beads as breads. Both of us saw what we wanted to see. We drive by it every day now and laugh at how strange that was. Because it is very clearly beads and not breads. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/7 "2012-01-08T13:16:07Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I’m not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but a few weeks back my husband and I were looking for bakeries in our area. We were striking out with finding one that would handle our breads for us and starting to feel a bit nervous about it. So one day, we’re driving down the road and see a sign that reads Basically Beads. We were so excited. > > It wasn’t until we were practically inside the store that we realized that we both read beads as breads. Both of us saw what we wanted to see. We drive by it every day now and laugh at how strange that was. Because it is very clearly beads and not breads. Excellemt variation on the theme. Fun story to boot. Thanks. As we run across older threads that have this “mondegreen” characteristic for everyday words and names, maybe linking to them from this thread will let us start a collection of them. In any event I’m going to be on the lookout for other threads like this one. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/8 "2012-01-08T14:42:38Z")
Illinois Department of Transportation is abbreviated as IDOT on their trucks and signs. I always read it as IDIOT. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/9 "2012-01-08T19:26:52Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I’m not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but a few weeks back my husband and I were looking for bakeries in our area. We were striking out with finding one that would handle our breads for us and starting to feel a bit nervous about it. So one day, we’re driving down the road and see a sign that reads Basically Beads. We were so excited. > > It wasn’t until we were practically inside the store that we realized that we both read beads as breads. Both of us saw what we wanted to see. We drive by it every day now and laugh at how strange that was. Because it is very clearly beads and not breads. I would have misread it as “beards.” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/10 "2012-01-08T19:30:57Z")
It’s probably due to one of those do-it-yourself add-a-letter portable signs they have in such places, where somebody had to use an upside-down M in place of a W to spell out CAR MASH, but that’s what I always see now! ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/11 "2012-01-08T20:57:58Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > …or do you always see Santorum as Sanatorium? Whenever I see Santorum, I start hearing Metallica’s Sanitarium in my head. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/12 "2012-01-08T21:37:02Z")
Can we expand this to Doper names? There’s **Mangetout** , but there’s also **Mangeogre** …uh oops that is **Mangeorge**. You see I assumed the latter was French-derived just like the former was, and only noticed the actual spelling a few months ago. At first I was like, “What is an ‘orge’?” before I finally got it 100%. I mean, a “Mangy Ogre” makes sense, right? ---
**Author:** ![pati12812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@pati12812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pati12812)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/13 "2012-01-09T10:46:36Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > …or do you always see Santorum as Sanatorium? EVERY time I see it, that is the first thing I think. haha, guess I am not as weird as I thought! ---
**Author:** ![pati12812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@pati12812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pati12812)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/14 "2012-01-09T10:53:38Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Can we expand this to Doper names? There’s **Mangetout** …Don’t ask me what goes through my mind! I see this, and immediately I see ‘man root’ (I know a guy who, rumor among our circle of friends is that he is very well endowed. His friends jokingly used to call him ‘man-root’ I don’t know why Mangetout reminds me of that though!) ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/15 "2012-01-09T10:53:55Z")
I feel less insane now. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/16 "2012-01-09T11:25:02Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Can we expand this to Doper names? You mean like **Wookie In A Pub**? ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-seeing-names-as-other-words/608738/17 "2012-01-09T22:10:48Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Can we expand this to Doper names? There’s **Mangetout** , but there’s also **Mangeogre** …uh oops that is **Mangeorge**. You see I assumed the latter was French-derived just like the former was, and only noticed the actual spelling a few months ago. At first I was like, “What is an ‘orge’?” before I finally got it 100%. I mean, a “Mangy Ogre” makes sense, right? Well, I’ll be a monkey’s bare-assed uncle…I always thought the exact same thing until just now. “Mange orge” just seems correct.