Sunday, April 04, 2004

conversation with a first-time great grandmother

"Please tell me her name is spelled D-E-L-A-N-E-Y."
"Yes. I mean, no. It's with an i on the end"
"D-E-L-A-N-I?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Do they know that that anagrams to denial? And nailed?"
"..."
"I wonder who is going to look at that name and guess that it's pronounced duh-LANE-ee. I bet people will think it's deh-LAHN-ee or DEL-uh-nee."
"Well, how else are you going to spell it with an 'i'?"
"That's the thing, Mom. I wouldn't have spelled it with an 'i'."
"That's what the kids these days do.* They take a regular name and then they change a letter or two to be 'different.'"
"Except Delaney isn't exactly a regular name to start out with."

* Yes! She said "the kids these days"!

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