maio 20, 2009
namesI have recently noticed something quite universal: people are obsessed with names. Now, why is that? To tell you the truth I couldn't care less. Besides their grammatical function, names can have additional or pure honorary and memorial values. Names have meanings, you might say. They have purposes, ideas behind them. Names are unanimous, you find them just about everywhere. They're not too hard to grasp. A name can do so much, and only so much. There are kinds of names: anthroponym, toponym, hydronym, ethnonym, pseudonym. First name, last name, middle name, nickname, pen name. There are names that a large amount of people tend to remember for a long long while: Ghandi, Winston Churchill, Rimbaud, Napoleon, Mozart, Greta Garbo, Socrates, Stalin, Degas, Anna Karenina, Billy the Kid, Alexander the Great.
I'll make a longer list right now. I'm afraid it'll be a bit on the useful side.
What sorts of things can you do with a name?
You can assign it, you can call it, you can make it up. You can look it up, you can like it, dislike it, you can simply not mind it. You can choose it, write it, spell it, print it, if you're a dolphin you can even whistle it. You can tattoo it on you, or on somebody else. You can etch it in skin or wood with a penknife and brand yourself with it. You can know it, hear it, whisper it, read it, scream it, make acronyms, call it out in vain. Abbreviate it, count the letters in it, cast out demons just by saying it. You can learn its meaning and its origin.You can describe how your tongue feels against your palate when you say it out loud, you can translate it, you can find all of its anagrams and put them in alphabetical order. You can sell a name, you can buy a name. It's true. I've heard you can moan a name. I've also heard about people who cuss names, praise names, and even repeat them as a form of religious procedure. You can remember a name, you can try not to remember a name. Sometimes, not too rarely, you can forget a name as well.
That's not all I hope. Writing about names makes it easier not to obsessively think about them as much. It removes the mystery, turns them into ordinary labels. it soothes the aching mind. You should try.
maria 4:36 PM 1 vociferando estavam