# Wendy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 13, 2002, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621 "2002-12-13T22:09:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/21 "2002-12-16T12:02:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Priceguy \* > \*\*And “Nova”… please. Apologies to whomever I ripped this from (I thought it was Cecil but cannot find the column), but are you telling me you wouldn’t buy a dinette set called “Notable” because you would assume it didn’t include a table? \*\* I followed ruadh’s link and apparently I ripped this from Snopes. ---
**Author:** ![DRomm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@DRomm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRomm)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/22 "2002-12-16T16:16:04Z")
“Jeb Bush” is as redundant as “ATM Machine”, since JEB is an acronym of his initials, John Ellis Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Breathe\_Exhaust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@Breathe\_Exhaust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breathe_Exhaust)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/23 "2002-12-17T01:10:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DRomm \* > \*\*“Jeb Bush” is as redundant as “ATM Machine”, since JEB is an acronym of his initials, John Ellis Bush. \*\* 😃 sorry to spread urban legends about car names. My regrets. I’d say Jeb Bush is redundant, but for other reasons! ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/24 "2002-12-17T03:29:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bibliophage \* > \*\*You’re not the type to get up at 3 AM Christmas morning to open all your presents, are you? \*\* You know, if I’m not still up at 3 AM, I’m not getting up, no matter what day it is. Besides, nowadays I’m usually up putting the presents **out** till 2 Christmas morning. Now that you mention it, though, there’s something about the anticipation that’s almost better than the gift itself. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/25 "2002-12-17T18:39:43Z")
Wow, no wonder you’re a legend! You’re Santa, aren’t you? I’d like a complete set of Heinlein’s novels (except for _Number of the Beast_), a bunch of computer games, a copy of Ryder’s field theory book, world peace, and a pony. I’ve been very good this year, I promise! ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/26 "2002-12-17T21:37:39Z")
Speaking as a Wendy, thanks for this cool column. I’d always thought my name was invented for _Peter Pan_, and it’s pretty damn cool to learn otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/27 "2002-12-17T21:43:05Z")
Kim – often short for Kimberly (which is from a surname) As for Spanish use of “Matador”: Matador – Killer, Slayer (no major negative connotations for most people, unless you hate bullfights, or are a Jain). A perfectly acceptable car name. Asesino – Murderer, Assassin (negative, criminal connotations) ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/28 "2002-12-18T00:43:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*Wow, no wonder you’re a legend! You’re Santa, aren’t you? I’d like a complete set of Heinlein’s novels (except for _Number of the Beast_), a bunch of computer games, a copy of Ryder’s field theory book, world peace, and a pony. I’ve been very good this year, I promise! \*\* Now, now. As I tell my own children every year, Santa can’t possibly bring you ALL those things. There are other children in the world, you know, and if you get that many gifts, some of them will have to go without. I can swing either the copy of Ryder’s field theory book or ONE computer game, depending on the price. Santa’s budget is between $25 and $40 per child. You’re allowed to team up with a sibling if you want an expensive gift. And if you get too greedy, I might just bring you a copy of _Peter Pan_. Or a Baby Names book. ---
**Author:** ![Breathe\_Exhaust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@Breathe\_Exhaust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breathe_Exhaust)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/29 "2002-12-18T04:09:50Z")
INTERNETLEGEND Now, now. As I tell my own children every year, Santa can’t possibly bring you ALL those things. There are other children in the world, you know, and if you get that many gifts, some of them will have to go without. BREATHE EX I Thought Santa Claus was magic, like he could do anything he wanted. They never told me he was on a tight budget. When I was a kid I thought he was just a cheap bastard! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/30 "2002-12-18T11:45:57Z")
I always thought the name Wendy came from the Wends, a Slavic people of eastern Germany who speak a language closely related to Polish. The name Wanda also comes from these people. There was a famous Polish harpsichordist named Wanda Landowska. Seemed to me that Wendy and Wanda were variant forms of each other. Kipling’s “Kim” is a shortened form of the Irish name Kimball. ---
**Author:** ![rosencrantz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@rosencrantz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rosencrantz)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/31 "2002-12-18T21:15:26Z")
Wendy has nothing to do with the Wends. They call themselves Serbs (also known in English as Sorbs to avoid confusion with the good citizens of Belgrade). ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/32 "2002-12-19T01:59:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Breathe Exhaust \* > \*\*I Thought Santa Claus was magic, like he could do anything he wanted. \*\* Nope. If he granted every good child’s wish, we’d be knee-deep in ponies. Or in the inevitable consequences of pony ownership anyway. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/33 "2002-12-19T07:23:13Z")
BTW I’m also a Wendy, and I knew the name had been used prior to Peter Pan, but I was under the impression it was so uncommon Barrie had never heard of it and so in a sense he did “invent” it - he just wasn’t the first person to do so. The Staff Report doesn’t really change that impression. ---
**Author:** ![Daver914](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@Daver914](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daver914)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/34 "2002-12-19T21:31:53Z")
This is kind of a minor point, but the couple sentences about the Chinese emperor “Wendi” aren’t quite applicable. In pinyin (the primary system for Romanizing Chinese Characters), “e” is pronounced as “uh”, like the “u” in “dumb”. So the emperor Wen Di’s name would be pronounced “Wun Dee”. That of course, isn’t taking into account the tones involved. I know that last bit of the article was a joke anyway, but I just thought I’d set the record straight. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/35 "2002-12-19T23:10:38Z")
From the bibliography affixed to the page titled _The History of the Name “Wendy”_ and reproduced in the Staff Report: **The Facts On File Dictionary of First Names, Leslie Dunkling and William Goshing** Actually, William’s surname is “Gosling”. See [http://www.pricefarmer.com/cgi-bin/farm?author=Gosling,+William](http://www.pricefarmer.com/cgi-bin/farm?author=Gosling,+William) Hey Santa, is there any chance that you’re bringing me that software I’ve long dreamed of? You know, the product that’ll allow me access to any Web page for the purpose of correcting such obviously careless spelling errors?😃 ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/36 "2002-12-20T05:02:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sternvogel \* > \*\* Hey Santa, is there any chance that you’re bringing me that software I’ve long dreamed of? You know, the product that’ll allow me access to any Web page for the purpose of correcting such obviously careless spelling errors?😃 \*\* By the time you’re old enough to ask for things like this, Santa expects you to quit freeloading and become a Helper. ---
**Author:** ![onigame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9fc29f/32.png) [@onigame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/onigame)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/37 "2003-01-13T11:31:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Daver914 \* > \*\*This is kind of a minor point, but the couple sentences about the Chinese emperor “Wendi” aren’t quite applicable. In pinyin (the primary system for Romanizing Chinese Characters), “e” is pronounced as “uh”, like the “u” in “dumb”. So the emperor Wen Di’s name would be pronounced “Wun Dee”. That of course, isn’t taking into account the tones involved. > > I know that last bit of the article was a joke anyway, but I just thought I’d set the record straight. \*\* Sorry, Daver914, you’re incorrect here. “e” when before “n” is pronouced as a short “e” in English, so the staff report is correct. (When before “ng”, it is pronounced like an “o”, and it is pronounced “uh” when not followed by an ending consonant. If we take the joke seriously, it’s worth pointing out that “Wendi”, in both cases, were posthumous titles (not names as such) given to these emperors; they were not called such while they were alive. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/38 "2003-01-14T16:23:05Z")
I once worked with a woman named ‘Windora’ and she went by Windy. All sorts of variations. And more being made all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Daver914](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@Daver914](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daver914)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/39 "2003-01-15T05:53:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Sorry, Daver914, you’re incorrect here. > > “e” when before “n” is pronouced as a short “e” in English, so the staff report is correct. (When before “ng”, it is pronounced like an “o”, and it is pronounced “uh” when not followed by an ending consonant. I don’t know what to say about that, except that the Chinese people I hear speaking every day pronounce “wen” (as in “qing wen” and “wen wenti”) as “wun” (similar to the English word “one”), and not “wen” to rhyme with English “ten”. These are all native speakers from various regions of China, so I have no reason to believe they’re not saying it correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Daver914](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@Daver914](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daver914)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/40 "2003-01-15T05:57:51Z")
> [@](#): > > “e” when before “n” is pronouced as a short “e” in English, so the staff report is correct. (When before “ng”, it is pronounced like an “o”, and it is pronounced “uh” when not followed by an ending consonant. I know what you may be getting at here, in that there is certainly a sound difference between “wen” (short, pinched pinyin e), “feng” (flatter pinyin e), and “he” (first-tone, broad pinyin e), but none of those sounds is close to an English short ë as in “Wendy”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621.md?page=3)