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| Source: Wikipedia |
So Libya has a dictator named Muammar el-Qaddaffi. And he's a seriously bad dude. I get that. And what's going on over there has serious implications for the US and the rest of the world. But that isn't what this is about. No, no, no.
I realize this is hardly news to most people any more. Even Saturday night live did a bit about it in 1981 so yeah, I"m a little slow on the uptick. Here's my thing though. I am a stickler for things being spelled correctly, good grammar and all the niceties of proper writing. But why can no two news stations spell his name the same way? In fact, if you watch 2 or 3 different stories on the same station you're likely to see his name spelled differently in each one depending on the producer or director. All I want to see is the Western media come to a consensus and stick with it.
I have one of those names that no one ever gets correct in both spelling and pronunciation so I'm particularly sensitive to it. Surely, the man has a preference on how his name is spelled while we are making him the current face of the devil publicizing the plight of the rebels in his country. Maybe someone should just ask him. You know, he might not be so damn cranky if we just could manage to get his name right.
The bracket in the picture above is a sort of a schematic for spelling his name. In the first line I spelled it my favorite way. What's yours?
And let's not even go into the myriad ways that people tend to pronounce/mispronounce names. On the subject of the fellow from Libya, maybe we could all just agree to call him something easy like "Mo". :)
ReplyDeleteI'm the worst with spelling and grammar. Punctuation is not my strength. I think its Muammar.....but what do I know? He has a hot Russian nurse that never leaves his side. I wonder what she calls him. :)
ReplyDeletemamma- she calls him daddy...
ReplyDeleteF-*-C-K-T-A-R-D...
that is how i spell his name...
the guy has been an idiot for decades...finally the people that live there have had enough...
When I wrote my post about him a week or so ago, I found 10 different spellings for his name. So I just fuck it and spelled it how I wanted to.
ReplyDeleteli - I like that but 'Mo' sounds entirely too friendly.
ReplyDeleteMamma, I think Bruce is onto something. Maybe Papi, or something meaning daddy...LOL
Bruce - I agree and I'm happy to see the people finally standing up for himself. I'm inclined to want to spell his name A-S-S-H-A-T.
OT - OMG!! I swear I didn't steal your dictator idea!!! I know that others in our tight knit blog community are dealing with 'imitation' without proper credit but you shouldn't have that worry about me. I'm so far behind reading most of my blogs that I haven't even seen yours. I guess I'd better head over there and catch up.
Aw, damn! I've made you paranoid. Everybody's not a bitch like me, Tory.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post - what's in a name?
ReplyDeletePre marriage I had a last name that was a challenge - but I managed!
Post marriage I said, one day to my ex, if I had know that I could by a new last name for twenty bucks I would have saved myself a trip down the alter.
I know, I'm a nasty piece of work...
Jenny (always smiling)
Mrs. Hyde, I know that. And personally I don't think you're a bitch at all (deal with it). I totally understand that people should get proper credit for their ideas. Still haven't made it over to his blog to see how much our blog posts are similar. I'll go do that now. No really, I mean it....right now.
ReplyDeleteJenny, not a nasty piece of work. In fact that was part of the reason my practice husband was a practice husband and not just a bad boyfriend memory. He had a nice short easy to spell and pronounce last name. I am sooooo there!
Good point. I never know if they on about him or one of his kids.
ReplyDelete