What’s in a name

THE EDITOR: Kindly permit me this comment on the subject “A rose by any other name smells just as sweet” a famous William once wrote but does a name really define you or vice versa? Parents, wanting their children to succeed in life, research names of rich and famous people and so can opt for Daniel, Eli and David for Prophet, Priest and King. William, Benjamin and Jesse for playwright, scientist and great athlete. That the children indeed grow into these names is the subject of great discussion and indeed there are those who argue that the names given to children after you have had time to observe them is more revealing and appropriate.

We all remember the stage, somewhere between primary and secondary school, when we earned our names. These names needed little explanation and, in some cases, are everlasting. While some can be very complimentary others can force us to seek residence elsewhere. Try and shake off Sleepy, Duck, Its Alive or Winey....it is not easy! Could you imagine being female with glasses and with a friend named Brown? You would hate Rudder for life even if you never met him!

My all time favourite is the one given to an East Indian youth who was pencil slim and smoked a lot. One dark night he got his name and it is impossible to remember him as anything as “Burning Spear.” Steelband men have also gotten into the act with Desperadoes, Renegades and Invaders, although the latter haven’t invaded the finals in a long time. Even our football team is trying the trick although the name warriors is a bit presumptuous after some of our pussycat performances. However Soca Pussycats won’t do it for us either. Names can be a best fit as in the case of the Prince of Port-of-Spain, the little Magician and Rajpaul who still remains our only Olympic Gold medallist. Names can be very confusing as we all know.

Mr Black is white, Mr White is black and Mr Green is as green as Mr Gray is grey! Internationally, the All Blacks was an all white rugby team playing in all black, and jumbo shrimps are competing with military intelligence for the most ridiculous of them all. I will plumb for the nickname any day as they need little explanation. I even believe that job applications should have column for nicknames. In that case Sleepy won’t even bother to apply for that security job, neither would Lie be expected to honestly complete his resume. It really allows for the real persona to be seen, after all, who calls his child criminal, killer or ole tief? Names can and do affect our livelihood as many a product has failed because little attention was paid to its name.

Chevrolet produced the ultimate car for the Latin American market and named it the Chevy Nova. Sounded great if you thought super nova. However in Latin America it bombed, because they saw it as NOVA! (Going nowhere.) When you get to the long and short of it you can’t beat clock for appropriateness or Burning Spear in the dead of the night but you are sure of one thing — laughter is the best medicine!

NIEVES CALLENDER
Port-of-Spain