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MadGastronomer
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« on: February 17, 2008, 04:09:20 am » |
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To clarify: My LJ username, which appears with every comment I make in anyone else's LJ, is inaurolillium (which, for the curious, means "I gild the lily" in Latin). Mad Gastronomer is listed as my name, and it appears in various places, just not as many as inaurolillium does. It does not break 4th wall for him to know me as Mad Gastronomer, it's just funny in the context of LJ, where it's uncommon to call someone by their listed name rather than username. (Oh, and speaking of various identities, Will and Emma may remember me as the Rebecca who used to debate with Will on his old blog, and write for Green Man.)
Hey, Bear, I've been meaning to ask, what does your LJ name mean?
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Elizabeth Bear
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« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2008, 07:36:29 am » |
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It's Dakota for "Little Bear".
Because "Bear" in most languages is taken, and the person who is responsible for me having the middle name "Bear" (My full legal name is Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky--you can see why I shortened it for publication) was (in part) Sioux.
But my friends, in real life or on the internets, call me either Sarah or Bear. Although increasingly, there are those who call me Elizabeth, which is also fine. And a few (mostly of college provenance) who call me "YO, WISHNEVSKY!" *g* Any of those will turn my head in a public space. As will "Sarah Bear" and lastly "EBear", which are variants that developed to identify me in social groups with (respectively) more than one Sarah and more than one Sarah Bear. (!)
"Liz" and "Beth" will not get my attention. But I figure six naming options is enough for anybody.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chaz: "As if puberty weren't stressful enough."
Todd: "See? That's why we're better than all those other law enforcement agencies. Correct use of the subjunctive."
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MadGastronomer
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« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2008, 07:50:58 am » |
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Ah-ha! I kept trying to turn it into Spanish. Cool.
My impulse is to say, "I couldn't keep up with that many names!" But then I remember the wide variety of names I've answered to... One of these days, I'll probably have to learn to answer to my last name, too, if only because "Chef (lastname)" is a not uncommon form of address. (Assuming I ever get to be a chef.)
To return to a previous topic: I am less interested in who is writing which bit than in how on earth the authors figure out who's going to respond to what comment when. Seems like they'd be tripping over themselves and each other, at least occasionally.
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Elizabeth Bear
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« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2008, 07:54:32 am » |
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Occasionally, they do. ;-)
But we have synergy on our side.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chaz: "As if puberty weren't stressful enough."
Todd: "See? That's why we're better than all those other law enforcement agencies. Correct use of the subjunctive."
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Cinderberry
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« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2008, 11:06:25 am » |
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(My full legal name is Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky--you can see why I shortened it for publication) <off-topic> I've just realised something. A couple of years ago my home town Kiev hosted Eurocon, and Ellen Datlow was one of GsOH. Somebody asked her whether, if one tried to get published in English, one should try to turn one's Slavic surname into a pen name the intended audience would be able to remember. He response was "possibly", and she gave the example of an American writer whose real surname was Wishnevsky, but who took a pen name. I'm ridiculously happy to find out that That Writer = Bear. For no reason other than, it's cool to join the dots on something that's been sitting at the back of my brain for two years. P.S. You should have heard the dismayed cries of "But that's a really easy name, what hope do I have?</off-topic> |
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Elizabeth Bear
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« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2008, 11:08:42 am » |
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Hee. It is an easy name. But you should hear people screw it up.
OTOH, I have tried to order books by Roger Zelazny in non-specialty bookstores and he's well-known, and clerks can't get it right. WHEN YOU WRITE IT DOWN FOR THEM.
:-P
So it's more the readers than the editors I was worried about. Also, I didn't look forward to fifty years of correcting people's pronunciations/spellings.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chaz: "As if puberty weren't stressful enough."
Todd: "See? That's why we're better than all those other law enforcement agencies. Correct use of the subjunctive."
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lunarsara
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« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2008, 11:09:57 am » |
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"Liz" and "Beth" will not get my attention. But I figure six naming options is enough for anybody.
A book dealer at Penguicon last year called you "Liz". It sounded really funny to me and I didn't even know at the time that Elizabeth wasn't your given first name. MG, I agree. Whenever I think about it, I find it amazing that there's no stumbling over each other apparent in the LJs. The fact that I rarely find myself thinking about it is a true credit to the continuity of the thing. When I noticed the match in Bear's and Chaz's LJ the other day, I thought "Chaz just read Bear's LJ, too", quickly followed by "DUH! Bear IS Chaz!". "synergy" -- ew! evil corporate jargon! *hides under desk* Has the HR zombie gone away yet? (Sorry, mebee I should 'splain. I work out of my home office for the largest telephone company in the world. HR hates the PJ-clad workers and tries to make our lives miserable in any way they can. So big, hollow, corporate words make me dive for cover even when people who know what they mean use them properly.) |
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nebula
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« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2008, 11:10:32 am » |
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It's Dakota for "Little Bear".
Because "Bear" in most languages is taken, and the person who is responsible for me having the middle name "Bear" (My full legal name is Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky--you can see why I shortened it for publication) was (in part) Sioux.
But my friends, in real life or on the internets, call me either Sarah or Bear. Although increasingly, there are those who call me Elizabeth, which is also fine. And a few (mostly of college provenance) who call me "YO, WISHNEVSKY!" *g* Any of those will turn my head in a public space. As will "Sarah Bear" and lastly "EBear", which are variants that developed to identify me in social groups with (respectively) more than one Sarah and more than one Sarah Bear. (!)
"Liz" and "Beth" will not get my attention. But I figure six naming options is enough for anybody.
Damn. I knew Elizabeth Bear wasn't your full name, but I am going to have to reconfigure you in my head as a "Sarah" now. Although Bear still sounds good. I'm with you on the "Liz" and "Beth" though. I like all four of my syllables and I am most definitely NOT a "Lizzie" either. "Betty" was attempted in college, but it didn't last, thankfully. btw, are the livejournals as much fun as they seem? The interactions between the characters and their livejournal conversations bring them to life so vividly. |
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Come at the King, you'd best not miss
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nebula
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« Reply #8 on: February 17, 2008, 11:14:22 am » |
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Hee. It is an easy name. But you should hear people screw it up.
OTOH, I have tried to order books by Roger Zelazny in non-specialty bookstores and he's well-known, and clerks can't get it right. WHEN YOU WRITE IT DOWN FOR THEM.
:-P
So it's more the readers than the editors I was worried about. Also, I didn't look forward to fifty years of correcting people's pronunciations/spellings.
It's not just slightly difficult sounding names that people struggle with. Mine is pronounced exactly the way it is spelled, but people still add extra syllables or say it (wrongly) in a slightly questioning way. I usually just correct them (harshly if they want me to buy stuff from them) rather than explaining that usually a double consonant shortens the vowel sound before it, and so a single one will allow the vowel to have the long pronounciation. And if there isn't an "n" there, don't add one. |
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Come at the King, you'd best not miss
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Elizabeth Bear
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« Reply #9 on: February 17, 2008, 11:18:32 am » |
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Hah! Bear is fine. Really, it's my name, and it's what many of my friends call me. And I like it. *g* And it doesn't get me confused with other people--also if you call me Sarah on the Internet, nobody will know who you mean. ;-)
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chaz: "As if puberty weren't stressful enough."
Todd: "See? That's why we're better than all those other law enforcement agencies. Correct use of the subjunctive."
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Elizabeth Bear
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« Reply #10 on: February 17, 2008, 11:19:24 am » |
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(Oh, and the livejournals are totally fun. And the really cool thing is, we get to know the characters in their real lives, as it were, and not just on the job. Which is very cool.)
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chaz: "As if puberty weren't stressful enough."
Todd: "See? That's why we're better than all those other law enforcement agencies. Correct use of the subjunctive."
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swampyankee2u
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« Reply #11 on: February 17, 2008, 12:06:18 pm » |
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I have to weigh in on the Elizabeth issue.
I swear, if I had a nickel for everytime I gave my name for something official and had to go through the following
"You mean Elizabeth"
"No. Just 'Beth'"
"Bethany?"
"No. Just 'Beth'"
I still threaten periodically to go to the courts for a name change to Just Beth.
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The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new. ~Samuel Johnson
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elyse
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« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2008, 01:10:25 pm » |
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My name is spelled Elise on my birth certificate, but people always tried to spell and pronounce it Elsie (as in the cow). When I started grad school and tried to open a local checking account, I had to send the new checks back three times before they got it right.
The first other El{i/y}se I ever met (freshman year in college) had used the other spelling and claimed to not have many problems. So when I was getting my first apartment after grad school and changing all of my contact info including driver's license and Social Security info I changed the spelling everywhere. When I got my first passport, it was with the new spelling.
People still screw it up occasionally, but that's better than constantly.
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txanne
Laser Snark
Hero Member
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« Reply #13 on: February 17, 2008, 01:18:46 pm » |
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You'd think that "Anne" would be simple, right? Plenty of people leave off the E, but for some reason they've started asking if I have one. No, what really gets my goat is the people who pronounce it Annie. And then they get miffed when I remind them about silent Es.
We won't mention my surname. Four letters and nobody ever gets it right.
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onceuponanever
Newbie
Posts: 23
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« Reply #14 on: February 17, 2008, 01:30:58 pm » |
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The problem with my surname is that people do get it right, in a sense. My grandfather changed the pronunciation when he came to America, so that it would sound more like an American name. But everyone pronounces it in its original form. I've given up bothering to correct people, since both are technically right.
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