[Wow, my first-ever use of obscenity in the Pit and my first-ever use of the word “felch”, period. Felch. Felch felch felch felch felch felch. Hmmm, I kinda like it.]
Anyway, back to my point… Come on people, how difficult is it to get this right? This guy was, by any standard and from any viewpoint, a major world historical figure of the twentieth century, and at least half the references to his name that you ever see are misspelled. Do you see non-Americans going around making references to “Llincon” or “Wishington”? Are you just not paying attention, or what?
And for Pete’s, um, I mean for shit’s sake, don’t just leave out the “h” altogether and write “Gandi”, which is a form of a Hindi word meaning “dirty” or “filthy”! Damn, folks, if you’re going to insult people by twisting their names at least don’t do it accidentally. It’s distracting and unpleasant—think of the little double-take you’d do if you read a reference to “Martin Luther Kink, Jr.” and imagine it happening practically every felching time someone writes the name.
You say you can’t be expected to remember how some old Third World geezer from half a century back spelled his name? I have just the mnemonic aid you need, kiddies—come on now, all together to the tune of “Mother”:
G is for his garment made of homespun,
A is for the ashram where he taught,
N is Nehru, loyal as his own son,
D is for the dharma that he sought;
H is for the hunger self-inflicted,
I is India where his voice was heard—
Put them all together, they spell [fortissimo con portamento] GA-A-ANDHI,
A name that’s not a dirty word!
Very good. Now get it right, willya? Sheesh.