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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Misspelling of kids names - I don’t get it!

28 replies

itsabongthing · 15/10/2019 15:13

I’ve got a couple of friends who on WhatsApp or messages will persistently misspell kids names even when I have literally just written it I don’t get it! Anyone have this? Anyone shed any light?
Eg.
Me: thank you, Eloise would love to come.
Friend: great! Glad Elouise can make it!

Me: would you be able to give Sophie a lift?
Friend: sure! No problem we can take Sofie

Me: do you know if Eleanor is going?
Friend: no, not sure about Elinor.

????

I get it when you’re writing a first message or in a card or something, but when you’ve literally just read it??

OP posts:
Butchyrestingface · 15/10/2019 15:15

Autocorrect? Shorter/easier way to spell it?

MayFayner · 15/10/2019 15:17

Yes, I have had this constantly with DD. She’s 18 now and it still happens. Everyone, including grandparents, does it. Her name is normal and in no way “youneek”.

Pemba · 15/10/2019 15:20

I think some people just don't see spelling mistakes and typos. It just doesn't register, and if you brought it to their attention they would think you were making a big fuss about nothing! Bit off when it's your kids' names though.

Tractorgirlz · 15/10/2019 15:24

This infuriates me too. Not just with names either. Someone on my Facebook commented on a mutual friends post talking about ‘throphies’ when the words ‘trophy’ and ‘trophies’ had been mentioned multiple times by different people earlier on the post. How can people be so stupid!

thecatsthecats · 15/10/2019 15:24

Poorer ability to parse and remember written information?

Bugs me when you read book reviews of invented character names, and even though there is literally only one invented spelling of the name, repeated almost every page, people spell it another way.

But then I have an unnaturally high ability to read, process and remember written words, so I'd be a bit of a twat to pick at people who don't have that ability.

Boom45 · 15/10/2019 15:28

Hello! Dysliexic here. I can spell my own name wrong (and occasionally backwards) and not notice until someone points it out to me. It's not that unusual either. Also, people type fast and without thinking on WhatsApp. It's very unlikely they're either doing it on purpose or because they don't care about you or your daughter, it's one of those things it's probably better to just let go

Original poster
itsabongthing · 15/10/2019 15:39

I obviously don’t mention it - and sometimes my kids names and sometimes others, and not just one friend - a couple, and it’s normally the less common/more youneek way that they spell it which is what really flummoxes me!

OP posts:
SunshineCrocodile · 15/10/2019 16:10

My ILs do this all the time with my kids, specifically with nicknames. If their nicknames are Mimi and Mags, for example (they're not, but similar) they persistently refer to them as MeeMee and Maggs. The whole family does it and it drives me up the wall. And yes, they do it in WhatsApp conversations in which I've already correctly spelled the names.

HeadintheiClouds · 15/10/2019 16:12

Lol at “easier way to spell it”!! Wtf?

Butchyrestingface · 15/10/2019 16:16

Lol at “easier way to spell it”!! Wtf?

I think the reasoning has been ably explained upthread. Smile

Bezalelle · 15/10/2019 16:51

It's fucking infuriating! The number of emails I sign off with "Best wishes, Lucy" to get a reply "Dear Lucie" (not real names, but similar)

READ THE FUCKING NAME! READ IT!

Bezalelle · 15/10/2019 16:51

Wow... I'm angry...

Bibijayne · 15/10/2019 16:52

If it is WhatsApp it is almost certainly autocorrect.

CautiousPractice · 16/10/2019 14:55

I used to do agency work, and in my last 6 months of temping, got a new point of contact. Every time she emailed me she spelt my name wrong. My email address is literally my full name, and I always signed my full name at the end of any emails to her, but no matter what she always spelt it wrong by a single letter. After a couple of months of it, I started spelling hers wrong in response. It took only 3 emails for her to miraculously start spelling my name correctly.

ActualHornist · 16/10/2019 15:03

My husband does this all the time. He is very dyslexic. He spells completely phonetically so even autocorrect doesn’t know what he’s trying to say sometimes.

I have so many colleagues called Clare/Claire that I sometimes mistype if I’m replying quickly to emails but I always correct myself!

ShinyGiratina · 16/10/2019 15:05

DH's name has been mis-spelled by several family members for nearly two decades. His is the usual version. They change the number of letters to a version usually seen in surnames Hmm

Ijustwanttoretire · 16/10/2019 15:06

My MIL has spelt my (very common and traditionally spelt) name wrong since I got together with my DH. 26 years on - still wrong... Confused

iklboo · 16/10/2019 15:08

FIL & his wife quite often send me cards with the wrong name in. We've only been together 18 years. And see them at least once a month

PaperFlowers4 · 16/10/2019 15:10

I think many people just don’t pay attention.

I have an Eleanor/Elinor name and my boss always spells it the wrong way even though my work email and logins and everyone else at the company spells it the correct way. In my case the spelling alters the pronunciation slightly so it’s even worse, really. I’ve been there for 2 years now.

KUGA · 16/10/2019 15:17

Does it matter ? you know who they are talking about.

mauvaisereputation · 16/10/2019 15:21

This happens to me all the time. I have a name that can be spelled in one of two ways and people often reply to emails (which I have signed off with the correct spelling) with the wrong spelling. I think probably everyone is guilty of it now and again.

JacquesHammer · 16/10/2019 15:24

It drives me mad professionally - I had someone take a punt on whether I would hire him.

He didn’t spell my name or my company name correctly, both of which are in my email address. (And neither of which are complicated!)

Socially it probably wouldn’t register!

AreWeAnywhereNear · 16/10/2019 15:28

DH is dyslexic, I used to get some right whoppers of spelling my name, nearly 25 years later he now just uses a shortened 3 letter nick name for me Grin

I have a rather typical 70's name so nothing out of the ordinary!

Cosmos45 · 16/10/2019 15:31

I had this at work, someone continually spelt my name wrong even though I had signed off the email with the name and it was in the email address. Instead of a y at the end (think Tracy) he put an i (Traci). I told him repeatedly and he still didn't correct it so eventually i started emailing him Andi instead of Andy. Miraculously, he then got it right every time. I have others that do it, one managed to call me Tracy, Traci and Tracee (not my real name) in a short email. His name was Tom, so I started to refer to him as Tim instead..

Jaxhog · 16/10/2019 15:53

As someone who spelling and grammar checks their emails, it annoys me too. I have a name that has many variations of spelling and have given up correcting people. It only takes a bit of care and thought in most cases, but I don't think a lot of people can be bothered to spend the time checking. It's rather disrespectful.

I'm using a free app called Grammarly right now.

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