Friday, September 30, 2011

Phonetics

People have been mispronouncing my name every day for the last 29 years. I get Callie, as in California, FAR more then I get Kali, as in Kaylee. I blame my parents. Obviously phonetics weren't taken into consideration at 4:57 a.m. on March 22, 1982. Unfortunately, it's me who's been paying the toll ever since. Part of me feels rude when I have to correct people. Then again, part of me feels it's rude when someone doesn't call me by the right name. Most can't help it. They're strangers, what do they care? It's the ones who see me daily that slay me. Or the ones with the memory similar to the life span of a fruit fly. They're my favorite. They're the ones I TELL my name to in a conversation and they repeat it back to me at the end of said conversation, only to say it wrong. Here's a tip: if you can't remember what I told you five seconds ago, and being a new mom believe me I can understand, then just don't try!

I have to say, though, that my all time favorite name memory was the day I graduated college. They were announcing the summa cum laude recipients (thank you, thank you) so they could stand and be recognized by the audience. Seconds after the announcer said "Callie Miller" my Mom, one of the more vocal people of the world, shouts, "Iiiiiiiittttttttt'ssssssssss Kaaaaaaaaaaaayleeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!" We're in a giant dome mind you. Thousands of people in ear shot. You would've thought she had a megaphone it was that loud. I just had to laugh.

Now before I was married, I could count on everyone at least getting my last name right. Really. You can't f*ck up Miller. Now that I'm a DeBoer however, as in DeeBoar, it's hopeless. "Callie Debower?" Ummm… nope. "Kylie Devore?" Try again. "Katie Debber?"Shoot me now.

Needless to say, I hold the phonetical spelling of a name very close to my heart. The day Maci was born though, I figured we picked a name where you really can't go wrong with how it's pronounced. It's a giant store for crying out loud. Everyone knows Macy's right? The giant red star? The Thanksgiving day parade? Apparently not without the "y" they don't. So yeah, the other day, I got a voice message on my cell phone from our pediatrician's office saying, "…and we're calling to confirm the appointment for Macki…" as in Mackee. WTF? Seriously? Thank God they didn't try and say her last name. I might have gotten out my megaphone.

1 comment:

  1. I love this circular story. And as a person who has two Kali's in her life (Kaylee and Callie) I ALWAYS mix it up. At a very young age I invented "cuz" to call out to everyone in our family I meet. Has worked. I love Maci's name -- being a huge fan of the thanksgiving day parade I don't think I'll ever get it wrong. Love you!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

You might also like: