Rachael’s Rant: An introduction
Have you ever witnessed me have a rant? No? Well, today is your lucky day! 😆
I do have the ability to bite my tongue, but should a suitable moment present itself, regarding a topic I might be somewhat passionate about, I will unleash my fiery side and have a good old tongue-lashing. I’m surprised, sometimes further irritated, that the witnesses to these outbursts agree (because I am often just being silly), or laugh and just.don’t.get.it. 🙄
So I thought I’d take my fingers to my keyboard and tap out my frustrations, thoughts, and opinions to which I am entitled. Do not be offended by what I have to say – if you don’t like it, don’t read it. I will read any comments and interactions, and will take them on board, but I will not partake in any further discussion or argument. A public online battle is not pretty. I am creating this space to have my say, a little Greg James’ feature ‘Rage Against the Answer Machine’-esque . Rants, I hope, will fuel you with food for thought, and maybe raise a smile; enjoy them!
Some of you may also wish to vent, so I may occasionally have a ‘Guest Rant’. Get in touch if you’d like to have grumble.
To get the ball rolling, I thought I’d start with name spelling.
Boy does it grind on my gears when someone spells my name incorrectly.
My parents, to the ear have given me a normal name. Do not be fooled! The simple addition of the an extra letter ‘a’ has gradually built up a fury within me.
They chose Rachael, not Rachel.
Shocker.
I’m glad they did for I think it is a prettier spelling. We are not a particularly religious family, and Rachel is the version in the Bible. My middle name is Anne, another name with a sans ‘e’ variation.
Then there is my surname, Hallewell. I’m not related to a Spice Girl, however much I wish I had been aged 8. We have an ‘e’ not an ‘i’ as Geri Halliwell does. It didn’t stop the gap girls at school nick-naming me ‘Geri’ for a year.
If I type my name spelling into Facebook, I am THE ONLY ONE.
Google have omitted their suggestion of ‘did you mean rachel halliwell?’
No, I bloody well didn’t!
And now they are less polite and simply put ‘Showing results for rachel halliwell‘
And yes I Googled my name, who doesn’t?
It hurts most when close friends and family STILL spell my name wrongly. I’m not going to point any fingers, but COME ON. It’s just an extra ‘a’. And it goes right here RachAel, not here RacheAl. It’s like Michael. EVERYONE can spell Michael, right?!
Louise and Louisa, Isabelle and Isabella, Joanna and Joanne : oh how that ‘a’ and ‘e’ difference must drive them potty.
Are you a Claire or a Clare, a Sarah or a Sara, a Nicky or a Nikki, an Olly or an Ollie, a Catie or a Katie, a Lucas or a Lukas, a Jon or a John, a Sean or a Shaun?
I know there are many more examples, mainly girl names (we have to be difficult!) but you get the idea. This website helps parents to find original name spellings for their children. http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/1023047/unique-spellings-for-common-baby-names
Are you kidding me???
Your poor child will FOREVER be telling people how to spell their name. Emails will bounce, they won’t be found on computer systems for the bank/doctor etc and it’ll just be a hassle. Trust me, I know. Be kind, not cool.
I appreciate, you’ve got to guess a spelling before you know. But once you know, well, quite frankly there are no excuses.
My point is that if you spell a name incorrectly it means you are unobservant, uncaring and idle to truly acknowledge what someone is called. To me, a name is important. It is part of your identity.
The irony that Starbucks is trying to get to know its customers on a first name basis whilst spelling most names incorrectly makes me chuckle.
So, get it right! Otherwise you’re telling that person you can’t be bothered to make the effort to learn their name properly. How rude!
I admit, I recently spelt a colleague’s name incorrectly.
Oops! 🙈
I was mortified and was consequently teased for my error. However, I appreciate that Auto-Correct is the enemy. (Another rant to be had there.)
If you have made a blunder, Kathryn Shanley has written an article on ways to save your credibility on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-save-your-credibility-after-misspelling-someones-name-shanley
Rant over.
