i vote that we have another forum split. i nominate myself mod of "Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation"

dominic... moar like DUMinic amirite guise???


moar like domiprick

like cuminic

BUMinic

Fixed.

Also enter my vote for -5 star thread.

great thread by dom, He makes a really good point here

dominic, i think you could better expend your energy on other endeavors.

Yeah, like porn maybe.

Yeah a little unusual is fine. Try having a name that is ******edly unusual like Ephraim. It sucks. Then try being in sales where you meet new people every day.

Your name's Ephraim??

Sorry, Dude.

You're tellin me. I still yet at my parents for that one, and I am 27. If I did not have a sales job it would not be as bad. Most people call me Fro or Fromo anyway. But meeting new people constantly and having to repeat my name constantly drives me nuts.

Then you get the stupid follow up comments and questions. I will not get into that because I will end up write 3 pages of a rant if I do.

Did you know Bugs Bunny was almost named Ephraim the ******ed Rabbit?

Your name rules. Listen to "Boy Named Sue" a few times if you don't believe me.

I like the last line of the song best. But I would love to hear Jib's 3 pages of ranting.

Thanks man. Like I do not already have a freekin complex. lol

I do not think that I have ever heard it. will try to find it on youtube.

Alright, you asked for it.

Lets start with the pronunciation of my name. Phonetically it would be pronounced E From. Now say it with me, E From. Does not sound too hard does it. But apparently the it is one of the toughest ****ing names to repeat back. I mean, I do not expect someone to get it from the spelling, but I just ****ing told you how to pronounce it using the letter "E" and the very ****ing english word "from". I know people can pronounce these things, they do it every day. But for some reason it becomes physically impossible to pronounce in regards to a name. So now that I have corrected you 6 times and given up because once again, you are incapable we will move on.

Next usually comes the questions with regards to my name.

customer: What does it mean?
me: I don't know, ask my parents
c: so you do not know what it means?
m: it is biblical, Old Testament, I really do not pay much attention.
c: so are you jewish?
m: no
c: not at all? I would have thought that you were jewish
m: no not at all
c: so what are you?
m: Just a Irish/German mix like everyone else in st. Louis.
c: wow. So what is your last name
m: as I said before it is Schmitt
c: well that is pretty normal
m: yeah, thank God
c: I mean, such an unusual first name and such a normal last name
m: yeah sure
c: so what are your parents name?
m: Chuck and Theresa
c: well that is also very normal,
m: yeah pretty much
c: I would not expect that with such an unusual first name and all
m: yeah, I guess they thought it was funny or something
c: ???
m: nevermind
c: what about your brothers or sisters, are their names unique as well?
m: yes, the all have goofy names like me

Now comes the part where they tell me that they like my name

c: well, I do not think your name is goofy I like it
m: great, I'll thank my parents for you
c: ????
m: nevermind
c: I wish my name was different
m: no, it is not really fun
c: well I think it would be cool
m: great

now comes the nick name questions,

c: so I bet you have lots of nick names huh?
m: yeah, pretty much
c: so what are they?
m: oh, various names
c: really, what are they
m: most people call me either Fro or Fromo
c: what do those mean?
m: nothing, they are nick names
c: who calls you that?
m: my friends and much of my family
c: how did they get that from Ephraim
m: I do not know.
c: so how long have they been calling you that?
m: pretty long
c: oh.

There are many other conversation that I have to have. Like was I name after Ephraim Zembelis(sp?) Jr. And then there is always the

wife: "I have never met anyone with that name, have you (insert husbands name)"
Husband: "No, I never have"
w: "So do you know anyone else with that name?"
me: no, I haven't any other parent that irresponsible yet
w: ????????
m: nevermind
(insert previous convo's from above)

And then there are the people that try and guess the spelling. Like there is some sort of ****ing prize if you get it right. I can tell you that if there was a prize they would all be ****ing consolation prizes because apparently Americans are even worse and spelling then they are a pronunciation. Now I my self am not a great speller. So I do not fault them for there horrid attempts. But I also would ****ing try to guess for no reason. When I meet a Mathematician I do not start yelling out what my guess on what Pie is to the 59 digit. I do not know what that is, so why the **** would I guess, and further more, why the **** would he care if I am able to do this. When I meet a Doctor I do not start trying to guess the names of ****ing bones in the body.

So after them trying I let them know. Then they say that they would have never guessed that. Well of ****ing course you would not have guessed that, you are incapable of even pronouncing it, what on ****ing earth made you think that you could spell it!

Now keep in mind that this is not one time that this has happen, but happens almost EVERY ****ING TIME I MEET SOMEONE NEW! So these are the conversations that I have got to have for the last couple decades. I have to have these conversations many times every single week. And I am in sales so I have to pretend that I am not bothered by these questions.

And this is the latter part of my life. We are not getting into the fights and trouble that I had as a child. Also, we will not talk about today my middle name, which is equally as unfortunate.

I thought about legally changing my name for a while, but the laziness prohibited me from actually going through with it.

So, this was not as long as it could be and I left out some of the various stupid questions that I get, but I am starting to get a headache just from writing this so I will now end this.

/rant

I have no doubt that it's annoying....but it's probably not the correct way of pronouncing it, at least from a historical perspective. That might have something to do with the confusion.

You are right that it is not the "correct" way to pronounce it. But I have met very few people that actually know the proper pronounceation either. Typically they are jewish if they do know.

And it is not like I am asking them to guess. I am telling them. And then they just have to repeat it back to me.

Yeah, no doubt. I'd definitely get sick of having to go through what you described. Lol...

CLICK HERE

Hahaha. Actually, I do know a guy named Ephraim. He's flamboyantly gay and he pronounces it eff-ray-EEM.

I have a brother named Gideon.

lmao @ ephraim

Good save. lol..

That would actually be the more proper Jewish pronounceation, also more common in Spanish speaking cultures.

Being gay, he probably likes it, doesn't he? That is surprising that you know someone with that name though.

Yeah, I forgot about that.

He loves it.

He's also from South America, though, which may explain it. If the name is more popular in Spanish-speaking cultures, well, there ya go.