The naming of memes

[liv]

So, the name meme. I've found it a lot more interesting than I expected when other people have done this, so I'm going to have a go.

I'm also going to quote some 20^th century Hebrew poetry, because it's relevant and a cool poem:
Each man has a name
given him by God
and given him by his father and mother

Each man has a name
given him by the hills
and given him by his walls.

Each man has a name
given him by the stars
and given him by his neighbours.

Each man has a name
given him by his sins
and given him by his longing.

Each man has a name
given him by those who hate him
and given him by his love.

Each man has a name
given him by his festivals
and given him by his work.

Each man has name
given him by the seasons of the year
and given him by his blindness.

Each man has a name
given him by the sea
and given him
by his death.

Zelda Mishkovsky (1914-1984), as reprinted in Days of Awe, (c) 1985 RSGB

If you call me:

• Rachel, you are most people who know me.
• Rache, you are Spanish M (who can't pronounce the schwa-l combination), or else liable to get a sharp answer.
• רחל, you are probably HF or doseybat, though you may be a random Israeli. If you call me by my full Hebrew name, you are calling on me to take part in a service.
• Rachele, you are one of my Dad's Yiddish speaking aunts or uncles.
• Rachelita you are boss S, and you're feeling well-disposed towards me.
• Rachelchel, you are my p'tite soeur, and you are being particularly affectionate.
• Rach, you are in trouble.
• Sarah, you are probably someone who's only met me vaguely and has associated me with one of the women from the early part of the Bible and picked the wrong one. You may also be someone, probably a teacher from school, who is muddling me with my sister. Or you might be lethargic_man's mother, being bizarre.
• Miss [surname], you are addressing me in a formal context, and doing so correctly. You may also be a child who is being inculcated with old-fashioned manners.
• Ms [surname], you are a stranger and you don't want to take risks. You're probably trying to sell me something. If I have any reason to continue interacting with you, I will correct you.
• Dr [surname], you have encountered me professionally but don't actually know me, and don't want to take risks. You're probably a rep or possibly a less than with-it administrator.
• Auntie Rachel, you are MK's little boy N, otherwise known as the most adorable boy in the world.
• Gran' soeur or sis or sister dear, you are one of the sibs.
• Livredor, Livre d'Or or livredor, you know me through LJ.
• Liv or Livre, you are a support volunteer, and you can't be bothered to type anyone's name out in full.
• Individ-ewe-al, you are a stranger on whose blog I've left a comment.
• Ewerb or ewerb, you know me in some online context where I don't give out any identifying details.
• Any combination of badger, fish and Rachel, you are blackherring, or else someone close to me who has been spending time with her recently, and you are being affectionate.
• Dear or my dear, you are probably my mother, though you may be darcydodo or rysmiel. You may also possibly be me or one of my personae talking to myself. You're almost certainly not lethargic_man unless you're having an exceptionally demonstrative moment.
• Fool, you are my p'tite soeur and you're annoyed with me. I'm probably attempting to help you in the kitchen.
• Foolish or foolish chicken, you are darcydodo being exasperatedly affectionate.

That was fun. Happily I don't have anyone calling me by particularly soppy endearments at the moment, so I don't have to admit to anything embarrassing.

Not much is new. My p'tite soeur is in NY at the moment visiting her bf (whom I haven't yet managed to meet). This is very exciting for her, but it will be weird not to have her with us for Passover.

This week I showed 50 10-year-olds round the synagogue and talked to them about Judaism. I always love doing that, but I particularly love doing it for polite and interested 10-year-olds, because they are far and away my favourite sort of children.

I was also slightly naughty and directed my community to read daegaer's fic based on the book of Esther. I am theoretically meant to be Religious Affairs Officer, and thus education comes within my remit, though mostly what I do is gabbai-ing (general admin stuff regarding making sure services happen). So with any luck that will be educational.

Oh, and I have finally got round to writing a little review of Delicatessen, which I watched last month with lethargic_man.

Comments

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

I was also slightly naughty and directed my community to read daegaer's fic based on the book of Esther.

Please do let us know if any interesting reactions arise. *hug* and I'm glad my intuitive forms of friendly address are comfortable for you.

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

I'm not participating in the name meme for pretty obvious reasons - though I will note that one advantage to being "Dr. [Rysmiel'sRealName]" on all professional and official correspondence, such as bank accounts and the like, is how much use it is in filtering out sales types who ring and use other honorifics, to which I have never answered and can honestly say no, nobody of that name lives here. I have spent non-trivial amounts of time working places where there were other people with my surname to whom I could direct any such inquiries.

The thought also occurs that my True Name is three billion letters long, though written in a four-character alphabet, and would be a bit awkward to sign things with; which is probably why signing with a drop of blood is equivalent levels of binding, it leaves the burden of sequencing on the entity at the other end.

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

Where do you include being addressed with an indefinite article?

[liv]

Good point. I'd forgotten that, probably because in my head it counts as being part of being called by my given name. I'm going to leave this to brew a couple of days, because I suspect there's several I've forgotten, and then I'll add this one.

[shreena.livejournal.com]

You may also possibly be me or one of my personae talking to myself

Out of idle curiosity - do your personae call you anything else?

[liv]

Out of idle curiosity - do your personae call you anything else?
Oh bother, I shouldn't have brought up the subject! Can I decline to answer that? I mean, mostly when I'm talking to myself I call myself Rachel, cos that's how I think of myself, boringly. When I'm talking to myself other than in my own voice then it depends on the voice I'm using. More information than that is probably more than I can quite bring myself to discuss right now.