What IS in a Name?

 

November 22, 2025

 

I’ve made 2 people very happy lately, quite by accident.

 

How did I do it? I pronounced their names correctly.

 

In both cases, I was in phone conversations at work with people I’d never met. They were American, but their names were from other cultures.

 

In both cases, after the call was finished, the person sent an email thanking me for pronouncing their name correctly. I had never realized before what a difference it could make. (After all, Jean Luc Picard went all those seasons of TNG without ever pronouncing a non-Federation name correctly, so it seemed like it was the norm just to Anglicize every name you came across.)

 

But once the second person mentioned it, I said, “Yeah, it must be murder to never have your name pronounced correctly.”

 

So, if you’re looking for an easy way to spread goodwill, listen to the name of the person you’re talking to, and try to replicate it. It means a lot.

 

 

 

Right on Cue

 

November 13, 2025

 

My sister and I were discussing newspaper typos, and joking about offering to proofread our respective dailies.

 

The very next day, in an article about providing mental health for people traumatized by a tornado, the heading on the secondary page read

                                                            Counesling

 

 

This Could Be His Chance to Be Treated Like a Royal

 

November 13, 2025

 

More references have been uncovered about Donald Trump possibly interacting with underage girls while he was friends with Jeffrey Epstein.

 

In the event that any real evidence comes to light, he can finally achieve his dream of being treated like royalty: Getting kicked out of the golden circle, just like Former Prince Andrew.