http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5130964Oh my.
It must be slow in the executive offices of the island today:
Skinner ADMIN (1000+ posts) Wed Feb-25-09 10:00 AM
Original message
Do we have any DUers with "non-Western" given names, who choose to go by a more "common" name?
If so, I'm curious what you think of DUers referring to Bobby Jindal by his given name "Piyush" instead of his preferred name "Bobby"?
And how would you feel if someone (particularly someone you don't know very well, and who is known to have some sort of disagreement with you) insisted on calling you by your given name, instead of the name you have chosen for yourself for your everyday life? Has this happened to you?
slackmaster (1000+ posts) Wed Feb-25-09 10:02 AM
Response to Original message
3. No, the kids just called me "Kraut" and "Nazi"
Because of my German surname.
Mocking people because of traits over which they have no control constitutes juvenile douchebaggery.
Racist juvenile douchebaggery is somewhat more contemptable than plain old juvenile douchebaggery, but it's all douchebaggery to me.
radfringe (1000+ posts) Wed Feb-25-09 10:12 AM
Response to Reply #3
13. teachers always stumbled over my name in school
people still mess it up, and the mispellings are a sight to see
that being said - it didn't make me go out and change my name to Marcia
My name is my name, I'm proud of my german-italian background.
It's a very large bonfire, and actually many of the primitive comments are somewhat sympathetic with, or similar to, this:
paulsby (101 posts) Wed Feb-25-09 12:59 PM
Response to Reply #32
192. for pete's sake
he changed his name when he was a little kid. most probably there was at least some impetus to "fit in".
so frigging what? he did it as a kid, and after being called a name for a certain # of years why should he give it up to please the "he's trying to hide his ethnicity" crowd.
THAT would be pandering to ethnic crap, frankly. to change his name back (the name he goes by) to his given name to appease people or to try to prove he's down with his ehtnic roots.
furthermore, with a last name like jindal and the fact that he clearly does not look like some pasty white guy, nobody is going to think he's not indian background, just because he goes by "bobby".
personally, i don't go by my first name. my first name is actually very common, and my second middle name not so much. but i like my second middle name more, so i chose to go by it. sowhat? my first name is biblical. am i "hiding" my biblically influenced parents (neither of whom are particularly religious. but it is technically a biblical name).
this whole thing is bunch of crap. the guy has gone by bobby since he was a little kid and nobody needs to read a bunch of nefarious self-hating racial crap into it. it just makes the person look absurd.
It's just a very big bonfire, but not many primitive spewing Hate about the issue.
Seeking Serenity (1000+ posts) Wed Feb-25-09 11:05 AM
Response to Reply #87
98. It's the age-old double standard.
It's bad when you do "X," but it's OK when I do "X," (ostensibly because I walk on the side of angels, my motives are purer than yours, my side can't be wrong, etc.).
I HATE double standards. If it's not OK for the Republicans to do a thing, it's not OK for us to do that same thing.
By the way, in real life, franksolich has a reasonably-recognizable first name, one that was once popular, but not so much any more. I suspect my father was being ironic when he named this deaf infant the same middle name as the greatest music composer with whom God ever graced the world.
And then to complicate things even more, the name is spelled not the original German way, but the way the composer spelled it while living in England, and that's a whole another ball of wax.
When I have to give my name, I of course say it, but some sort of affiction--real or hypochondrial--prevents me from pronouncing the short "e," and so it comes out different. franksolich can't even pronounce his own first name correctly.
If someone hollers for "Matt" or "Tad" or "Brad" or "Thad," it's always for franksolich.
