Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Whts in a nme?

That's supposed to be 'Whats in a name?'. For the few who have just studied the first few chapters of 'Unix:Concepts and Applications' by the How-I-wish-I-could-marry-this-operating system author , this title can be misleading. I'm not going to talk about file names.This is about MY name. And the title has those weird looking words because I also want to make a small mention of what I think of the 'super-cool' SMS lingo.

First, my name. Merin. I've been told that it is the name of a Roman Goddess(yay me!) and it means 'merry' or 'happy'. Let me tell you how a usual introduction-session happens,in my life.
Someone: Hi,I'm someone.
Me: Hello, I'm Merin.
Someone: Sorry?
Me: M-E-R-I-N. Merin. Don't worry, no one gets my name right at the first attempt.

Now that gives me one of these responses :
1. No,I got it. Merin. Or,
2. Merin..? Oh....Unusual name...Are you Christian?
Me: No, I'm Coorgi. Just got a name that's very-Christian.

Then there are those set of questions that completely stump me ;
Not Christian?? Hehe,you're joking right? Or,
Oh! You're not Christian?? ......How come?

How come? I dunno,how come?! I've almost always had to answer weird questions about my name, how my parents came up with it, what it means, why I have such a name inspite of not being Christian. I lost count very long back,of the various transformations my name has undergone. Meril, Marlyn, Marium, Marin... and the one that wins,hands down-Mary. I've had many people pronounce my name in many different and ridiculous ways. There are people who even stopped trying to get it right! My German teacher had such a problem trying to get my name right,even after six classes,that he finally decided he was going to use my Coorgi name,Kaveri instead. And there's worse than just wrong pronunciations. I've had people read my name and go 'Whats that?!!'. I don't blame them.'Merin' wouldn't sound like a name to me either!

And oh,here's the bomb. I met a girl online,while looking for would-be classmates in my new college. When I finally meet her in college,she says this: "Oh my God!!! I thought you were a guy!!!!!" .I'm not sure which one of us was more shocked.When I finally decide to join the community for all the Merins in the world,on a social networking site,I learn that there are guys with my name! Is it embarrassing or simply sad when I get friend-requests from the guy-Merins? Especially when most of them have the same cool quotient as this : 'It gives warm feeling to find girl with same name. We can be best friends.' And I got one that said 'Hey! Guess what! We have the same name! And I'm guy! We can have great life ahead!'. Now,assuming the worst of what that could mean, imagine an invite that reads 'Merin weds Merin'. So wonderful,innit?

Yes,I know my name isn't all that bad. Some friends even find my name 'interesting'. It certainly is far from being the worst name.For example, I have a relative back in Coorg whose actual name is Pussy. No kiddin'!!! What were her parents thinking?! Were they even thinking? Well,what were my parents thinking anyway?
All this trauma, if I may call it that,made me drop a certain oath I'd taken long back. For The Periodic Table and me, it was love at first sight. I'd sworn to name my first kid Mendeleev-irrespective of the gender.(In case you didn't know,he designed the masterpiece I fell in love with).I guess, now I know better than to do that. I like a new name now,because it pretty much describes me and how I behave when I'm all hyper. Tipsy. What do you think of it?
;)



And yes, I have to make a mention of the issue that has been driving me crazy. The SMS lingo. Whats with compressing every other word till its unrecognizable,skipping innocent alphabets in every word and even replacing them with alternate alphabets when there is absolutely no need?! Yes, I too use 'u' for 'you' and 'ur' for your, when the number of characters in my message just exceeds the maximum limit for a single message. You know,to save the very important paise. But why do that even when its not necessary? Is it an attempt to sound 'kool'? Oh wait, its kewl, isn't it? ARGH! That's got to be the most mind-numbingly 'un-cool' term ever!

There's wid(with), ma(me/my), yo(you), lik(like), den(then), dat(that), iz(is), wuz(was) and what not! There's the bunch that don't even serve the purpose of saving money. Vish(wish), totali(totally), la8er(later) and so many others. I can go on and on,with this list. There's also the overuse of 'z'. Lolzzzzzzz , frenzzzzzzzzzz!! And get this! 'Wil u cum today?' or ' Im cummin now'. I mean, What the..?!

It is highly frustrating,to have to read messages like that. Cold-blooded murder of the language,that's what it is! I'm only requesting those I know, to not do this. Typing those few extra alphabets won't kill you or paralyze your thumb. I admit, I used to use the weird lingo when I first got my phone. I don't now. And trust me, my thumb works just fine.
Thank you! :)




P.S. I went riding on my vehicle today, for the first time after the accident. For someone who used to drive like Schumi on Rossi's bike, I was very nervous. But the moment the engine came to life,what I felt when I finally drove...pure bliss! :)

31 comments:

Somebody Else said...

You seem to be on a single minded mission to put wannabe writers out of business.

That was excellent fun. And very very nice writing!

LOL. Hey, I got your name right the first time. Did i not?

And pussy? Really? Shit. :|

And I thought MY name was confusing.

Anonymous said...

ROFL post mareena!!(if u remr, ttz how my maid cald u!) lolzzzzzzzz. Even the princi at Parikrma cald u by smeother name! Nd, u stil in luv wid d periodic tble? Kewl yaar!
Im stil laughin. Humor is ur genre, i gess merin! :-)
*runs away before you try to throw a brick on her*

gautam dn said...

Yeah even i initially thought merin was a guys name !Anyway nice post but i prefer the f1 ones...!Where can i argue here?

Merin Mandanna said...

Siri,
Really? Siri is such a nice,feminine name ;) and thank you! :)

Swats,
Even your comments are funny dudette! :D and oh yes,i remember mareenaaa! :D

Gautam,
You also thought I was merin gina...? hehe.
And I thought you could argue with me on ANY topic ;)

Nakul PS said...

ROFL! brilliant stuff i say... good narrative style, with jinchak humor
rock on!!

nihalv said...

Reading your blog is the only time i don't log into BATRacer while online and believe you me,that's a compliment!
Merin!i do remember being very fascinated by your name.doesn't sound like a guy's name at all though.
Now Nuthan is a funny name.
Mr.X - Hello nuthan!
Mr.Y - Hello nuthan!
*both shake hands and walk away*
Never mind!
Well done on the attack on the 'kewl' gang.the anywayzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz using,english killing,lazy bums!off with their fingers.
Some chaps go to the extent of completely modifying the word just to...?sound different?who knows!
*engages in deep thought*
Boy!if i knew how to blog,i'd be writing novels by now.(no connection between the two!:S)
Cheerio!

Merin Mandanna said...

:D Thanks!
Nuthan? hehe! :D
*Honored by the BatRacer comparison* :D

Akshatha Hegde said...

Ah you finally blogged on your name being messed up. Two years with you and I witnessed like..12 such cases. :D

Ur post wuz kewl btw..it wuz lyk rap 'muzik'. :D

Merin Mandanna said...

LOL! :D rap+'muzik'=terror!
'kewl' was written about,with you in mind! A tribute,of sorts. :P :)

soda said...

dudi...just one 2 phrase word for this blog - KICKASS!!!!

it was hilarious i say
full daan writer u will becum :P i say...see its already in writing :D

Merin Mandanna said...

Sod,
When you said 'just one two word phrase',I got a li'l worried ;) :D Hehe,Thenks, Sire! :)

WAJ said...

What! men with the name Merin!!
I personally feel "Merin" is very FEMININE & I really pity on the male MERINs who have their names named after a "Greek Goddess"... or is it "German"(forgot it & i'm bit lazy to click the back button, in my browser & search it)
Also, it gives an unwanted status to "Male Merins" which makes them to think to change their names, coz.,Merin-->Happy & Happy-->Gay!
So by the "Rule of Syllogism" Merin-->Gay!!!!
(I hope none of Ur Gay friends... i mean "male Merins" are reading this comment, or they'll trash me)
& Why name ur kid "Mendeleev", whose creation had fault(still has) in the very second element!!
If you really want to pay tribute to some scientist, then name ur kid "Carl" (add an extra 'a' if a girl)
itz Carl who invented Petrol Engine if I'm rite & without him the talent of Schumi wud have been genuine WASTE(though lot of fuel wud have been saved)
& Carla=Wow & can also become French's first citizen's better half.
& wrt SMS lingo, see, lang & itz scrpt shud be d way ppl lke & thatz why even eng evolved, otherwize there wud hav been only Latin & Sanskrit in the world
Even in the "Pure English", i don't find any sense in adding extra letters. To name a few 'l' in should, would, 'p' in pneumonia etc., & this list is much longer.
So does adding extra letters mean you are "cool" or person with more ink to waste...(sorry for the PJ)
So let ppl use what they want, earth needs innovation.

Overall, your blog was interesting & good as usual. Keep it up!
Saurav Da Rules!

Merin Mandanna said...

Phew! Arjun,post more on your blog! :P
1.I'm not in touch with ANY male-merin. Knowing they exist is bad enough.
2.If you can come up with a better Periodic Table,only then comment on Mendeleev's version. ;)
3.The Schumi thing..No comment!
4.'lang & itz scrpt shud be d way ppl lke & thatz why even eng evolved'
What??? That another theory you're coming up with? ;) :P
Using the 'extra' letters? No,using the complete set of alphabets that are given to each word,is not an attempt to sound cool.Its an attempt to use a language like it is meant to be used.The world/earth offers zillion other opportunities for stud-wannabe--typing-another-alphabet-will-kill-me people,where they can be 'innovative'. Leave the language alone!The last thing it needs is innovation from retards.

WAJ said...

Post in My blog??
So you want me to post all the comments in a separate blog!!
Also, never say "Language(or anything else for that matter)doesn't needs innovation" ever again!
Itz due to Innovation we(homo sapien) are what we are today.
& if all the chemists thought using the complete set of alphabets that are given to each word, is mandatory the we would have been writing
"Hydrogen Hydrogen Sulfur Oxygen Oxygen Oxygen Oxygen" for H2SO4!!! think about Sucrose or some complex Amino acid!!
So, shortening the words(meaningfully) is no sin!
& Mendeleev is a great chemist, no doubt about it, but i wish he had worked more hard on his creation to make it flawless.
Ur name is also GOOD
NOTE: This comment was not to hurt anyone's sentiments or feelings. Itz just my opinion on a laudable blog

playbyrules said...

Jhumpha lahiri could take some lessons on 'namesake' from you. free flow narrative. i envy you.:( i had a friend called merene in second standard and that's what i though of when S first told me your name.

Merin Mandanna said...

:O You actually shadily compared me to an 'actual' author?! WHOA!! :P
Thanks,loads! :D

Arjun,
Agreed. When I'm messaging someone about chemicals,Sucrose and the like, I will use short forms. :P
I also agree,that shortening words MEANINGFULLY is not a sin.
Got your point,Sire. :) Thanks for the comment :)

Bharath said...

wow...amazing blog merin! It sure is gonna make people feel more "merin-ner"...and post more non-f1 stuff if u want people like me and arjun etc to read and comment..and that mendeleev thing is totally cool! Im gonna adopt him/her as my godchild if noone else is..lol!

Ramya said...

amazing stuff yar!!seriously!!toooo good!!hope i cud rit lk u!!!

Dark Covenant said...

Didn't really have any difficulties with your name. Great post! Sounded just like another conversation we all have behind the canteen. Very genuine, very vulnerable.
Cheers!

Merin Mandanna said...

Ramya,Nandini,
Thank you!! :) :)
Brat,
Sure.:D OR you can use Mendeleev for your kids!:P About the less of F1 thingy,I'll try.
Thanks :)

gautam dn said...

where is the f1 post? i need to rant about Massa!!!!!!But Kudos to Fernando

Merin Mandanna said...

F1,next week? :P

Namita Gopal said...

i enjoyed reading the entire piece,dam hilarious it was...ha ha.i m telln u,u can get into some serious writing business,dunno wat you are doing in RV..:P

Merin Mandanna said...

Serious writing business,Nami,will happen only when I completely turn insane. But hey,I've no idea what I'm doing here either. :P

Chaitanya said...

Seriously funny :D
And I completely agree with that sms lingo part. Found this as someone's forum signature, found it to be hilarious:
If you ask 'Can u help me?' as 'u' is shorter that 'you', I'll say 'no' as 'no' is shorter than 'yes'.
:D

Merin Mandanna said...

Haha we should all adopt signatures of that kind!!
:D

Kertz said...

you're fighting against the evil walrus?

M Ramya said...

lol lol..i know the fuss created regarding ur name but i never thought male-merins existed!

and i wonder if u ll ever love ur husband more than the periodic table..? ;)

and i agree with the SMS lingo thing..now words like cellophane, aspirin etc which were once enforceable trademarks have become generic names and this is one of the ways language evolves..not by adding a 100 z's to a simple word like anyway!

Merin Mandanna said...

Exactly. :)
And the periodic table will remain my number 1. :D

Unknown said...

Hey there are 2 people at my workplace : Merin & Merina. Both are gal-Merins, not guy-Merins :)

Merin Mandanna said...

And you actually rememebered this post..touched! :D

I'm sure they're awesome people, asb. ;)