[A name is like a piece of jewelry hung around his neck at birth.” – Wittgenstein] Yes, around your neck where others can see that name you wouldn’t have chosen for yourself, a name, perhaps, now shared with a newly disreputable politician or crazed serial killer who’s no relation to you, a name that could be taken as male or female, a name that no one can pronounce - including you - ... [FYI, the German here is "ein Schmuckstück"] … [Read more...]
“The Nameless” / Memorable Fancies #1707
17 December, 2016 by Leave a Comment
[“Everything has already been named.” – George Oppen] No, you say, that’s not true. You start to give examples, but ... [Click ‘Random Post’ above – be astonished] … [Read more...]
“Alma and Her Names” * / Memorable Fancies #1047
6 September, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Alma Johnson was called Alma Johnson because, although she was born Alma Gebhardt, she married Harold Johnson. This was a few years ago, when married women half disappeared and in upper-class circles entirely disappeared into “Mrs. Harold Johnson” and analogous names. But Harold Johnson died one day, and because he hadn’t been an entirely satisfactory husband to his wife Alma Johnson, after a year Alma took her half of her name back and became Alma Gebhardt again. Harold Johnson’s aged … [Read more...]
“Alma’s Names” / Memorable Fancies #1565
25 June, 2016 by 1 Comment
[in the style of Lydia Davis, the novelist and short-story writer] Alma Johnson was called Alma Johnson because, although she was born Alma Gebhardt, she married Harold Johnson. This was a few years ago, when married women half disappeared and in upper-class circles entirely disappeared into “Mrs. Harold Johnson” and analogous names. But Harold Johnson died one day, and because he hadn’t been an entirely satisfactory husband to his wife Alma Johnson, after a year Alma took her half of her … [Read more...]
“‘Who are you'” / Memorable Fancies #1549
25 May, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Who are you? My name is – No, not your name. Who are you? My name is – No, who are you? (louder) MY NAME IS JOHN STEVENSON Who would you be if you didn’t have a name? (blank stare) Right... … [Read more...]
“Occupied Names” / Memorable Fancies #734
6 June, 2014 by Leave a Comment
In the old days, the fourteenth century, say, John the baker is called “John Baker” because he is John the baker. Then his son Eli becomes a baker in his turn, and is called “Eli Baker.” Three generations later, Albert Baker doesn’t want to be a baker; he becomes a smith. He asks his friends to call him “Albert Smith,” but they call him “Albert Baker.” That was the first time… <END> THE FRIDAY PITCH If you liked this post, please tell your friends and share a comment … [Read more...]
“The Fifteen Words” / Memorable Fancies #571
6 January, 2014 by Leave a Comment
[“I imagine / inventing her from 15 words” – Marge Piercy] The 15 words – adjectives, actually – were selected by Elisa’s parents after much squabbling with grandparents and uncles and aunts and the local school district that didn’t want too many “Brilliant”s or “Gorgeous”s – it confused their records, they said. Wouldn’t you like, say, “Astute” or “Serendipitous”? But Elisa’s parents said no, and they had the last word until she became an adult and could choose her own words. … [Read more...]
“The Namers” / Memorable Fancies #535
1 December, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Namers are a special kind of people in our country, both acclaimed and reviled. We go to a Namer when there’s something new, something that didn’t have a name before, or had a name that must be changed, like a product that didn’t sell. Names, after all, are the real real; the Namers figured that out, and got rich. When a dictator falls, the Namers remove his name from the streets that had honored him, the stadiums, the newborns. No more Adolf-Hitler Strassen, for instance, after … [Read more...]
“The Names” / Memorable Fancies #527
22 November, 2013 by Leave a Comment
We were requested to sign up so that the authorities would have a list of those who have signed up. It seemed nonsensical at the time, but more innocuous than most of their initiatives. And so we complied. We are hiding now as our names are called, one by one, over and over. My own name has been called so many times that it begins to sound strange, as if I were someone else. <END> If you liked this post, please tell your friends and share a comment here or in … [Read more...]
“The Names IV – ‘We are forgetting the names of things'” / A Memorable Fancy #282
16 March, 2013 by Leave a Comment
We are forgetting the names of things: how they sound, what they mean. It began about a year ago. Once in a while I remembered a word like “skillet” or “plate,” but then quickly forgot it. We were reduced to saying “You know, those things we use to…” cook in, or place food on, or whatever. But gradually, the phrase “Those things we use to…” became, for us, just another kind of name, and we’re forgetting these, too. We gesture now, wordlessly. We point, we wave our arms silently until the … [Read more...]
“The Names – III” / A Memorable Fancy #270
4 March, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I’m an advisor to the King, but safety lies in looking wise and advising nothing. So I will not tell him that there are too many names already, too many things; that it would be good for us to have some perceptions we don’t put a label on; that knowing the name of a thing is not the same as knowing the thing itself, even though most learning in our schools stops there; and that just because a thing is called some “thing” doesn’t mean it’s the same thing as that other thing that’s also called the … [Read more...]
“The Names – II” / A Memorable Fancy #266
28 February, 2013 by Leave a Comment
[“Could one then do without names?” – Wittgenstein] Alfred abandons his name. He asks his friends not to call him “Alfred” anymore, not to call him anything. Names, he thinks, say both too little about him and too much. Why do people think they know him when they know only his name? “‘One,’ I shall be called,” he announces one day, as in “One knows very well that…,” or “One can fly from Zurich to Budapest now.” One has wisdom and power, he thinks, as in “upon reflection, One can readily … [Read more...]
“The Names – I” / A Memorable Fancy #263
25 February, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The King appointed a Royal Namer. Actually, he appointed four of them, one after another, until he found one who avoided the hangman by finally learning the art – no, let’s call it “the trick” – of Naming. You can probably tell from that that I don’t much like what the Namer does. Don’t we have enough names for things already? Take last week, for example. The Namer said “cream cheese” and cream cheese appeared; that is, we saw that something soft and white and edible now had a name, and … [Read more...]
“The Names – II” / A Memorable Fancy #060
28 July, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Jim wants to be called James, but everyone calls him Jimmy. In desperation, he moves to a city where he is not known. When meeting someone, he says “Hi, I’m James,” often followed by his surname. But as people get to know him, they start calling him “Jimmy.” He changes his name to Ethan, there being no nickname for Ethan. He says “Hi, I’m Ethan.” They say, “Hi, Jimmy.” … [Read more...]
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