[video] Holly Willoughby loses her cool with Katie Hopkins

[AMLinington]

As was Marion. Hilary is both.

 

I wonder if @AMLightfoot 's problem with her name is because people are no longer bothering with the slight change in lettering between the male and female version of her name?

I know a female Leslie which should be Lesley and another who spells her name Francis when the usual female spelling is Frances

 

I'd agree if there weren't long and historical examples of the clear differentiation between the Masculine and Feminine. I've NEVER known of a single female 'Alexander'. Alexander, of Greek origin meaning 'One who is defender of makind' and it's feminine counterpart Alexandra/Alexandria have been very clearly differentiated throughout history - Alexander the Great is the main example that comes to mind but also Alexander Graham-Bell as famour males, but Queen Alexandra of Denmark was Elizabeth II's Great-Grandmother I believe. There is no excuse where we live either as the QA - the Queen Alexandra Hospital is the main hospital in Portsmouth! The Queen Alexandra Royal Army Nursing Corps, Alexandria in Egypt - Plenty of examples.

[witch]

Plenty of examples, yes, but are they examples that someone who isn't terribly well educated or interested in such things would know?

I did a quick straw poll in the staff room and most people know at least one Alexander but few know any Alexandras which might point to why people spell it the male way?

 

BTW - Morgan le Fey isn't historical, but probably fictional as there is no proof she ever existed, and interestingly enough, she does have a man's name:

"In Celtic terms, Morgan (or Morcant) is a man's name. The feminine version is more correctly Morgain (or Morgue or Morgne). "

[X-13]

Morgue

 

Yes. Name your children after the place they store dead bodies. [i know the name came first. Disregard facts, aquire humour.]

[witch]

Funny you should say that. When I was about to have our second son, I wanted a Welsh name as I am half welsh. I wasnt allowed all the difficult ones like Ieuan or Iestyn so I asked for Morgan (this is before it became a girl's name). My husband objected as he didn't want a child nicknamed Morgue. I hadn't even thought of it as to me and my Welsh family it is just short for Morgan

[LosOjos]

I wasnt allowed all the difficult ones like Ieuan or Iestyn

 

Both hilarious to watch people try to pronounce when reading

[AMLinington]

Both hilarious to watch people try to pronounce when reading

 

Pronounced Ewan and Ethan perhaps? Then again we've been told they are welsh names and we know that welsh consonants and consonant pairs sound different.

[LosOjos]

Pronounced Ewan and Ethan perhaps? Then again we've been told they are welsh names and we know that welsh consonants and consonant pairs sound different.

 

We have a teacher called Ieuan and he pronounces it "Yai-An"

[CAM]

In my old WoW guild, we had someone called Aoife. I had no clue how to pronounce this until we finally had a guild meetup and I was told how to properly pronounce it Ee-Fa instead of...err...Whiffy. A year later his came in handy as a student arrived at the school with this very name so I was well armed to avoid name-related embarrassment...

 

I also seem to answer to my alias more then my real name these days. The problem of meeting people online is you are forever using the various aliases you have come to know each other by so I just answer to all of them.

[LeightonJames]

... Ieuan or Iestyn....

 

Are these not pronounced You-An and Yes-Tin??

 

Ewan and Justin (I am informed that there is no J in the Welsh Language????)

[HaleStorm]

Geraint is popular in Wales but you don't see it in England unless the person is of welsh origin.

 

As its my name, i know much about this...try and tell an English person your name and they look at you like you've dropped out of space! And asking someone to pronounce it right is nigh on impossible!

[HaleStorm]

Are these not pronounced You-An and Yes-Tin??

 

Ewan and Justin (I am informed that there is no J in the Welsh Language????)

 

Ieuan is pronounced "Yai-an" as previously mentioned

 

Ianto is another one people can't pronounce its "yan-toe" but people say it as "ee-an-toe" or "I-an-toe"+

[X-13]

Ianto is another one people can't pronounce its "yan-toe" but people say it as "ee-an-toe" or "I-an-toe"+

 

I will always get the right because of Torchwood.

[LeightonJames]

Fair enough

 

I believe my name is Welsh but I have an extra issue with my name in that my Surname is James so the 2 often get reversed and people call me James Leighton.

 

I am not Welsh and neither are my parents so I'm not 100% sure how the name came about.

[HaleStorm]

My mum always taught me how to say Welsh names when I was younger, but when i first saw torchwood my first thought was "they actually say his name right!"

[Alkaline]

I can see where she is coming from, but I think she is in a bit of a bubble. You don't want to shelter your kids too much.

[AMLinington]

As its my name, i know much about this...try and tell an English person your name and they look at you like you've dropped out of space! And asking someone to pronounce it right is nigh on impossible!

 

So how do you pronounce it?

 

I've heard it said as Gehr-aint (by a Geraint himself) - is this right?

[HaleStorm]

So how do you pronounce it?

 

I've heard it said as Gehr-aint (by a Geraint himself) - is this right?

 

That right, but you get some odd pronunciations "ge-ry-ant" "gry-unt" "je-ree-ant" it got to a point in school where I corrected teachers so many times I started to ignore them when they said it wrong, and when questioned about it replyed "well thats not my name, how did I know you were talking to me"

[witch]

My friend Geraint pronounces it Gehr -eynt

Ieuan is either Yayan or Yyan - I know one of each. DEFINITELY NOT EWAN

Iestyn is indeed Yestin. Nothing to do with Justin

I did think of calling my son Ianto or the family name, Maldwyn (could be Mal-dwyn or Maul-dwyn) but I wasn't allowed those either

 

 

*I called him Rhys - which caused problems for him when he was little as you can't sound it out!

[HaleStorm]

My first child will be call Ffion if its a girl, i've always liked it as a name, it means foxglove in Welsh....but im guessing the double F will confuse alot of people, even though its still a regular f sound.

Not decided on a boys name yet, but his 2nd name will be William after my Great-Grandad who recently passed away, but he survived being a Japanese POW in Burma...and he still hated the French more than the Japanese in his words "The Japanese were evil sadistic monsters, but at least they didn't run away and hide like the French did"

[AMLinington]

On the subject of names, I'm hoping the Duchess of Cambridge will have a baby girl and that she will call her Princess Alexandra - such a famous use of the name is bound to help educate people. Giving thought to putting a flutter on at the bookies.

[HaleStorm]

Im guessing that people saying Alexandria rather than Alexandra is your annoyance then?

[AMLinington]

Im guessing that people saying Alexandria rather than Alexandra is your annoyance then?

 

Actually, no. I don't mind that - at least it is gender-correct and saying 'Alexandria' is a simple mistake. I get annoyed at being called Alexander or people assuming I'm male because people call me Alex (despite my best efforts)

[HaleStorm]

Actually, no. I don't mind that - at least it is gender-correct and saying 'Alexandria' is a simple mistake. I get annoyed at being called Alexander or people assuming I'm male because people call me Alex (despite my best efforts)

 

People being name-illiterate and jumping to assumptions like that are really annoying...Like the O2 customer support person on the phone that assumed my sister in laws first name was Jason when she rang them because she said J. Watts as her name and shes got a deeper voice than most girls her age

[AMLinington]

People being name-illiterate and jumping to assumptions like that are really annoying...Like the O2 customer support person on the phone that assumed my sister in laws first name was Jason when she rang them because she said J. Watts as her name and shes got a deeper voice than most girls her age

 

Aye - I turned up to my first teaching placement when I did my PGCE and sat in reception for AGES until someone bothered to find out where I was because they were expecting 'Alex Lightfoot' so didn't associate me with the person they were waiting for. THEN to add insult to injury my name badge had Mr A Lightfoot on it. and when I pointed this out, they (badly) tippexed over the r and put 'Ms'. It was awful. In the end I removed the paper slip and printed my own with 'Miss A Lightfoot' on it.

[X-13]

Aye - I turned up to my first teaching placement when I did my PGCE and sat in reception for AGES until someone bothered to find out where I was because they were expecting 'Alex Lightfoot' so didn't associate me with the person they were waiting for. THEN to add insult to injury my name badge had Mr A Lightfoot on it. and when I pointed this out, they (badly) tippexed over the r and put 'Ms'. It was awful. In the end I removed the paper slip and printed my own with 'Miss A Lightfoot' on it.

 

I had a similar thing happen.