The Name
My whole life people have butchered my last name. I am not looking for sympathy, compared to a lot of people my last name is pretty easy to live with. The fact that our last name is so simple it's kind of perplexing that so many people have a hard time with it.
I can give a little grace to the latin peoples of the world because Isabelle is a popular name within that culture. But everyone else makes our last name a lot more complicated than it needs to be. The card stapled to the bag above is from Chocolate Bar in Chealsea. I went to pick up an order for Allison that she placed two days ago. I had a great laugh to myself at the effort that was made to get our name correct. I appreciate the creativity and sensitivity that was shown our last name.
So in light of this, it's time for a last name clinic. As you learn how to correctly spell and say our last name please feel free to continue to misspell or mispronounce it, just to be funny.
Common Mispronunciations:
1. 'IS-bull'
2. 'is-A-bell'
3. 'Ish-bell'
4. 'Iz-bell'
Correct Pronunciation:
'Is-bell' - not really that hard right? The 'a' is silent because THERE IS NO 'A'!
Spelling:
ISBELL - again think phonically.
16 comments:
Waaaaaaaaa.
At least you have no hyphens for the masses to stumble over. :)
Sincerely,
Greg Kindah-baugh, or
Greg Kinder-ball, or
Greg Kindabaugh, or
Greg Baughkindell
Bah, try having a name that starts with "i" except for the fact that it starts with an "e" instead.
Iker
Icher
Eicker
Ishur
EICHER, thank you very much. Pronounced phonetically: IKE-er.
I always want to correct people when they call for you and ask for Jason Isabel, but I usually let it slide.
I can sympathize with you. My first name was always hard for teachers to pronounce, and I usually interrupted them with "call me D.J." before they finished their noble attempt at Dionides.
forgot to mention that I love the photo. Classic.
My maiden name was Sheppard. I don't ever remember pronouncing it wrong. Then, I married a Lonard. (Pronounced lah-nerd) My poor five year old thinks his last name is Low-NARD because that's how they pronounce it at school- in spite of the fact that I have corrected them several times. And then there are the people who have the nerve to tell me I left out an "e" in my last name- Leonard. Um, no. I know how to spell my own last name!!!
Whatever....you're talking to Mr. Cassie Birkie. Wrong spellings, wrong pronunciations....and WRONG GENDER! That trumps all.
At least people recognize who the man in your house is. I get letters in the mail (usually from credit card companies) addressed to Mrs. Kristen White. Other pieces of mail come that read: Mr. Tobin White. I tell people that it makes little difference to me, but every time I read Mrs. when it should be Mr. and vice versa, I die a little inside. :)
Kate...if people just knew the rules-Icher should be pronounced "itch-er" and if you name your son "Ian" be prepared for "Ein Icher."
Jason, the best Isbell misspelling was a wedding announcement for us which read "ISHELL" which was, well...nevermind.
PS. It is not read IS-SHELL it is read IS-HELL.
Jason, you may not know this but even the family had trouble with the name Isbell. Grandpa Isbell and the country Isbells always pronounced it "Isbull" and there was some heated disagreement with the city Isbells when they changed the pronunciation. Then when Allen and then Dad started saying Isbell...Grandpa "Isbull' changed sides and became "Isbell."
"Last name?"
"Root."
"R-O-T?"
"Um, no. What does that spell?"
"Uh... 'rot'?"
"That's right. How do you spell 'root'?"
"R-O-O-T?"
"Well done."
I have this conversation EVERY SINGLE TIME someone asks me for my last name.
Un-be-lievable.
My last name is an actual word in the English language, for crying out loud.
Please. I do not want to hear any of it.
first name Karise (Kuh-reese)
misspellings: Caris, Carisse, Kareez,(et al) and the person at the nametag table says "Therese?"
"No, Karise"
"Oh, Clarice"
"No, there's no L."
"Oh, Therese."
"No, Karise. "
"Oh, how do you spell that?"
"K-A-R-I-S-E"
"Oh, that's nice. What's your last name?"
"Gililland"
"Gilland?"
"Gililland"
"Giliyand?"
"Gililland"
"Giligan?"
"Gililland. Here, let's write it down."
"Okay, G-I-L-L-I-A-N-D"
"No, G-I-L-I-L-L-A-N-D"
"Oh, Gil-ee-land. Here we go, Gilliland"
"I'll just write it, okay?"
Once it took about 20 minutes for the lady at a table to just let me write it out...
maiden name was McLeod. (say "McCloud")
or as people liked to say
"Mac-Lee-odd"
"Mac-lloyd"
"Mic-what?"
Ezabelle...that's actually kind of cute. Ezabelle Isbell...hope y'all are havin' a girl next time around! ;)
All of this reinforces the fact that people are just stuped!
:)
...or... "stupid."
i'm pretty sure i'm the only kelli shewmaker in the world. it doesn't seem like it would be so unusual, but having a first and last name that are spelled a little unusual make the whole thing very unusual. what i get all the time is people trying to make it a lot harder than it really is, scheumacher. nobody ever says, "so is it s-h-o-e-m-a-k-e-r?" never.
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