(no subject)

[waitingonsunday.livejournal.com]

I've seen quite a few of you in ljsecret, so some of you have already read this, but I thought it was interesting. Someone posted a secret here that read, "I use a pseudonym whenever I order at Starbucks because nobody can pronounce my damn name."

I was disappointed that there weren't more responses...well, there were, but most of them were, "I have that same problem," without mentioning what their names were...

-"My name is Ana (on-a) . . . . Now was that so hard to say?"

-"My name is Xochitl (pronounced 'sochee') and I understand that using English phonetics isn't how you are going to get the proper pronunciation...but it is still annoying that people never get my name right. And for some reason, when people find out my name, they inquire about my personal life! Like what ethnicity I am, where my parents are from, how it was to grow up with a unique name...I can't stand strangers asking me this sort of stuff...but I love my name!"

-"It irritates me when I tell people my name is 'Misti' and they spell it with a y."

-"Lysistrata here, pitchin' in . . . . Sometimes I shorten it to Lysi to try to make it easier, but it's a futile attempt. In additon, I like meeting people, but I hate introducing myself. I don't mind spelling/explaining/tell the story that much anymore, but it just makes me sound really self-important (I think)."

-"My name is Rebecca, but I go by Becca. It's a really common Biblical name. Yet no one at Starbucks can ever spell it right. They always seem to put a k in it. Becka. Beka. Bekka. Rebecka. Always a k."

On a related note, I used to see posts quite often in either customers_suck or customerssuck from someone who went by Ter. I believe it was short for Teresa. She pronounced it "tare," and said that no one over the phone could understand her name when she said it and people reading her nametag would often mispronounce it as "terr." Then there were numerous posts about her in c_suck_snark where they made fun of her for complaining that no one could pronounce her name.

Anyway. Yep. Just thought it was interesting.

Comments

[classiestkid.livejournal.com]

I have a friend named Anjani, and she just goes by Jenny because no one ever says it right.

[waitingonsunday.livejournal.com]

What a shame, Anjani is beautiful, if I'm pronouncing it correctly...but then, maybe I'm not pronouncing it correctly...

[waitingonsunday.livejournal.com]

I agree, that's one main reason I'm against inventive spellings. I'm sure I can think of plenty of ways to annoy my children on my own without having to rely on outside sources.

I thought it was interesting in the responses how many people were indignant toward the general population for not magically knowing that they were an exception to common naming rules. I think I'd be more ticked with my parents.

[aballard23.livejournal.com]

Would you consider Kearstyn to be a 'kr8atyve' spelling, or a phonetic spelling?

It's pronounced just like it's spelled, but I always hated the spelling 'Kirsten' for 'KEAR-styn'..

To be fair, it's my younger sister's name. Lol.

[solagirl.livejournal.com]

Hm. I worked at a high volume Starbucks for three years when I was putting myself through college, and I would serve hundreds of customers day. There is no way you are going to get every customer's name right, or that the person making the drink is going to say it right on the other end. It would be annoying if EVERYONE you came across in life said you name wrong, but cut the coffee people a little slack. They work you like a dog for 8 bucks an hour and a lot of the baristas go to school/work another job etc. People need to get off their high horse. It is a cup of coffee, not announcing your name for the completion of your PhD for christ sakes.

[in-the-starlite.livejournal.com]

I don't think it was a personal attack on Starbucks employees...

[waitingonsunday.livejournal.com]

Heh, I love your icon.

I've gotta say, coming from someone with a common name using a common spelling that people still manage to constantly mishear and misspell, it doesn't bother me at all, as long as it's not some sort of official document. Over the last two years or so, I've gotten Bethany a lot for Stephanie. I don't care if they call me Beth, as long as I get my stuff, because I'll be gone in five minutes and I'll never see them again anyway.

[in-the-starlite.livejournal.com]

Haha. I was in line at Starbucks the other day, and I thought to myself, "Maybe I should just say my name is Kay, because there's no way they're going to get Kiersten..." Well, instead of asking for my name, the girl just read it off my card and shouted, "TALL MOCHA FOR KRISTINA!" Uhhhhhh. Ok.

*sigh*

I mean, I could understand if you misheard it, but reading my name off my damn card, you should at least be able to tell there's no 'a' at the end.

[solagirl.livejournal.com]

Hm. Yeah, you should at least make the effort to ask! I usually avoid saying Katherine, because it is long and they usually ask how to spell it. I don't want to make the others behind me wait! I have always had a problem with people hearing Kate correctly, don't know why. I usually use Katie, and I've gotten Haiti and Lady on my cup before. Personally, I think it is really funny, and don't take offense.

[drunkontea.livejournal.com]

I like to write down fake names when I order at Starbucks or any other place that requires you to put down a name. Sometimes they're funny (just so I can hear the person call "my name" out), and sometimes they're names I wish I had.

Oh, and people always spell my name, Jacqui, wrong. It's gotten to the point where I don't even bother correcting them, unless it's for an official document or something, or if I knew they were going to be writing/spelling it more than once (IE not for just an order).

[solagirl.livejournal.com]

How do you say Jacqui?

[traezer.livejournal.com]

My boyfriend never gives his real name at Starbucks either. His name is Basil, but he goes by Mike when they ask his name.

[solagirl.livejournal.com]

I LOVE the name Basil!

[thejoysofjess.livejournal.com]

I worked at a place that called out names in a similar manner to starbucks and we got a lot of psuedonyms. It's just easier. Heck, eventually we started giving people their own random names (Princess Jasmine, Karen Brewer, etc) just because they LISTENED BETTER. Which is weird, but if you tell someone "Okay, your order is under Luke Skywalker" they are a lot more likely to listen than if it is just their name.

[solagirl.livejournal.com]

I agree. We would often use clothes. You call out, "Guy in the American flag jacket" and everyone looks down at what they are wearing to check if it is their order. It is funny to watch and works well.

[a-minor-third.livejournal.com]

I love this post! I have the same problem all the time. Besides, it's fun to go by a pseudonym. :P

[waitingonsunday.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :^) After consulting your profile, I imagine people must hack your name to bits. Which is really too bad, because it's a beautiful name.

[fireyirishangel.livejournal.com]

Ana doesn't read O-na to me, I would assume the beginning sound is an A, not O. I don't think it's someone else's fault that your (hypothetical) name is spelled differently than it's pronounced.

And Rebecca is often seen with a K. That's an honest mistake.

I know a woman named Annalisha (I believe that's the spelling). She's gone by Lily for quite awhile now because no one pronounced or spelled her name correctly. She had to coach her now-husband to her full name (Annalisha Ninori Jemima, I believe, but I could have one or two spelled incorrectly there... not sharing her last name) for their wedding vows, since he couldn't keep it straight and she never used it in its entirety.

[solagirl.livejournal.com]

It took my mom awhile to be able to introduce herself correctly after marrying my dad - we have a difficult last name!

[sweatydog.livejournal.com]

My name is really common but I got the "Unique" spelling of Britni with an I. So its never spelled correctly. What bothers me most is when people call me BRIT-ANY. Its quite clearly BRIT-NEE to me. I used to go by my middle name which is Dawn. I think I might start doing that again.

[waitingonsunday.livejournal.com]

On the flipside of that, I think it's interesting to see all the varied spellings my boring, standard Stephanie gets. Steffony, Stephonee, Stefnie. I find it more amusing that anything, but sometimes it's like...buh?

[freezemyazaleas.livejournal.com]

I always give a fake name at Starbucks.

[http://users.livejournal.com/____tonightt/]

Interesting, random, but every starbucks I have been to has never asked my name. Though my nn is Cathie no one ever spells it right

[lovablemess.livejournal.com]

I make sure to spell it whenever they ask my name. If I don't spell it, I get some really random spellings. I know Leah can be tricky, but it's not that tricky.

[thejoysofjess.livejournal.com]

But why? If it's not going on a t-shirt or legal documents, does it really matter?

I always wondered that when I worked food service and took names. Like was it really that big of a deal for me to put Lea instead of Leah? Especially on something that you'll throw away in 20 minutes, if it lasts that long?

[http://users.livejournal.com/--fourinchesx/]

I always go by my best friend's name in Starbucks, because mine is really hard to pronounce/spell.

[elemmennope.livejournal.com]

I use fake names in places like that because my name is Jennifer and I don't like the confusion that frequently ensues. Plus it's fun to try out names I like and find the good ones (good ones = they don't ask how to spell it, it gets pronounced correctly, two other women in the store don't think it's their order...)

[dustkitty.livejournal.com]

Wow. Misti-with-an-I needs to introduce herself as such, if it annoys her that people assume her name is spelled correctly. I've seen several similar complaints going through the name survey results on babynamesworld (the best feature on that site, IMO) and it makes me shake my head every time. Be mad at your parents, not the public.

[sloane-hd.livejournal.com]

I've been Slow Anne all my life. It doesn't matter how many times I tell people it's Sloane, they still say Slow Anne.

[bluedano.livejournal.com]

One of my best friends is Chinese and her name is Nghi (sounds like knee). She goes by Nia (sounds like knee-a) when ordering things because most people can figure out how to spell that and then pronounce it right. :P

On a funny related note, my husband's name is Pete and it's often misheard as Keith or something similar. I keep telling him to just use "Peter", but he likes to be stubborn about it.

[classiestkid.livejournal.com]

my manager at work is Jennipher, she got so tired of getting JenniFer, she just goes by Jenn now.

[misocrunchy.livejournal.com]

I don't share my name online...but I think I'm going to steal this Starbucks idea. For one, because it would be fun, but also because I do get a lot of dumbfounded looks, "How do you spell that?!"s, and so on.