The cliches abounding in this topic

[LadyThompson]

I enjoy the Baby names section - I'm interested in names generally, and, furthermore, am expecting a DC2 so the choosing of names has some direct relevance to my life at the moment. However - I am wearing of some of the following:

1. People who claim to have overheard particular names called out in the supermarket (always derogatory in tone, as well);

1. People who say, in an uppity manner - well, it's ok for a BABY but it won't do for a lawyer/brain surgeon (my DP is a barrister and as any fule kno, as far as the legal profession is concerned, they have practioners with ALL sorts of names);

1. People who talk about names being common, 'chavvy' or 'council house'. I think this says FAR more about the people decrying the name than those contemplating using it ;

I could go on, but that's enough for starters. I'm not against robust discussion either, just a bit bored of the same old nonsense being trotted out...

There will always be inappropriate responses in any thread....that is the beauty of a forum.....a mix of people whose opinions are valid, though not always popular, tasteful or informed. How dull would it be if everyone agreed that Winona was a "lovely name"?

But I don't want consensus, Scurry. That WOULD be dull. A mix of opinions is precisely what I enjoy. All I am really saying is that there are a few cliches on here which seem to pop up more and more, and that's what sometimes makes the thread dull for me. They're becoming like weeds!

Oh, and I am off to bed now

But you need to be more specific - simply saying anything else that I haven't listed isn't enough. Opinions usually fall into categories - and names aren't really that interesting when compared to politics, or religion, say.

Some of the things trotted out bore me ladythompson. Such as "Oh I know a Beau and he was gorgeous! all the girls were after him". Well then ey.

It's IRRELEVANT to the OP if you cycled around the block with a Beau in 1980. And it certainly isn't relevant whether he was Bruto or Beau.

Another thing that annoys me is people piping up on a thread about the name Disneyvita "oh my dc's name is Disneyvita" then making a bitch or a hypocrite out of the posters who post afterwards.

Some posters are upset to think that they have inadvertently given their child a name other people later began to think of as chav. I know i'M not the ultimate judge on the matter (no one person is) but without being snobby, I have a feel for what names are beginning to be perceived by others in that way. It's not 'nastiness' which has made me give my opinion when I have done so.

Burying your head in the sand and pretending that all names are regarded equally is no help to a poster who wants to do the right thing for her child.

There are cliches...there is a limit I feel because of the nature of the thread....other threads have far more interesting topics for discussion. You either like a name or you don't.....people can't help the connotations around a certain name - stereotypical or otherwise.....like it or not, I think people (wrongly) associate names with professions or with people they already know. My DS's name was considered "old fashioned" by relatives but 15 years later, the name is so "him" - he is unique.

Maisie - I said the cliches I listed in my OP were overused and just rather stale. That was incredibly specific.

How can I possibly dream up a universe of more original responses? That's up to the posters on the board, not me! Sure, ultimately one likes or dislikes a name. But every time someone says (for eg) "She will never be a brain surgeon if you call her Cherry!"...I think...can't you think of something else to say?

Magaly, yes, I'd forgotten "I used to know an X and he was a right Y"...

I don't think that all names are regarded equally. I am not dissuading people from offering their opinion, or saying it's wrong to dislike a name. But deriding names as 'chavvy' is really quite grotty, and just...bad manners, imo.

I am interested in the point that you regard yourself as being particularly adept at sniffing out the names which might have the propensity to be regarded by others as 'chavvy', and almost see yourself as providing a service

But actually my main point is not about that at all, but some of the cliches on this thread, which I personally (and yes, others may not feel the same) would like to see less frequently.

And I REALLY must go to bed now.

Goodnight, name-diviners

Night night

It's amusing LadyT, but reading the thread and your posts, I'm struck by your imperious manner; suggesting new terms for posting!! You seem to find it distasteful that commoners find commoners distasteful.

How very dare they!? You dismiss common opinions that don't match your own as 'nonsense trotted out'.

You find popular opinion deeply unpleasant and 'one tires of it rather'.

Listen, I know it's all subjective and it's all in the eye of the beholder etc... but your posts are actually the snobbiest I've come across on the names board for a good few days. So well done. Here's a voucher for a medal!

This is just my interpretation of your posts according to how I perceive them.

Just an observation btw. I come in peace. HOnestly.

@ LadyThompson
"She will never be a brain surgeon if you call her Cherry!...I think...can't you think of something else to say?"

How is "I agree it's lovely/oh no I can't stand that name" more original?

"Frilly names are a hindrance to your child being taken seriously" - Shall I just copypasta this everytime someone posts a thread asking about Daisy/Maisie/Pixie/Disneyvita?

Or I could comment on the attractiveness of the last Bartholemew I met and how swoon-worthy he was (this always confuses me, why would the fact that some incredibly sexy guy somewhere has the same name make me want to give that name to my child??), is that more like what you want to see?

My point is, I just don't really understand what it is you actually want us to do

@ Magaly
LOL
Do you have Ryvita biscuits and Disney toys in your eyeline by any chance?

Oh and to pick up on the reverse of something the OP mentioned about people overhearing particular names in a supermarket:

When I was working in John Lewis I heard some proper blinders.

"Oh Saskia do slow down"
"Minty darling stop pestering Archie"
"Benedict you put that down this instant young man!!"

Imagine the above in a very Sloaney accent.

And a bit of advice, if you let your children run around a department store, they will play with the fixtures and the staff will judge you because of it

RE: the public service I think I'm providing! WEll that'd be stretching it, obviously I'm on a work to rule.

BUT if a poster says "I like disneyvita-mae but my colleagues laughed and said it was chav", then I will say what I think. I could wallow in the dignity, self-control of NOT saying anything negative,,, but I wouldn't get the same righteous buzz an aristo would feel for keeping quiet...

personally, I'd rather do somebody a favour, even though I know we're not supposed to ever mention the war. mentioning the war means you've lost the war, right?

i guess to the Aristos, we're all the same. So the notion of some commoners with delusions of grandeur laughing at other commoners' names is probably quite cute. I get that.

@Padraig, yeah I'm a real dog with a bone with the disneyvita thing today. Just popped into my head. NO props. My brain is a scary place.

and how on earth can MN at Zoe or Mary-Jane all 3 of which are possibly amongst the oldest of names??

the Zoe I know is a successful author/teacher and the Mary-Jane I know works within the criminal system on the right side as well

all a load of nonsense frankly and yet I still can't seem to stay away from the baby names threads

Zoe is not on the MN chav list now is it? God MN is the harshest judge on earth. I wouldn't be surprised if when Prince William and Kate are choosing names, their choices are slagged off as being chav.

Well said, Magaly - LadyThompson, you are indeed coming across as more than a touch sneery at all the posters you clearly consider beneath you in being unable to round up a decent, original thought of their own. You're not using the word 'chav' yourself, but you might as well be, for the way you're coming across as looking down on others.

Also not said to be inflammatory - just an observation.

Every single baby name thread starts from square one. The OP asks for opinions; s/he gets them. People who have replied to other threads don't temper their response to this one based on previous, since the discussion at hand is a completely new one.

Human beings make judgements about every little thing they encounter - whether it is names, clothes, the papers people read, the supermarkets they shop at, the way people decorate their homes, their pastimes and hobbies. It is the way of the world. Instead of reinventing the wheel each time they encounter a new person or a new situation, they recall their previous experiences and use it to make the unfamiliar familiar. It's what separates us from the apes.

The only time this is a problem is if people let such judgements and perceptions override the actuality. In other words, to continue to dislike a Daisy or a Jayden simply because of their name, rather than their character.

If you're that tired of the cliches and tired options, perhaps you should have a small break from here. I can't see things changing any time soon.

padraig, I'd have thought Saskia was a bit chavvy .

According to MN "wisdom", my children's names make Minty and Benedict look common.

Thanks for your contributions, Magaly and 5dollarshake. Most enlightening.

I'm not going to take a break from the names thread, though, as fortunately there are enough contributors who make up for the numbnuts who keep screeching "Chav!"

I think some people just yell chav when you put five cents in the slot.

You're Welcome LadyT, I'm glad I didn't offend you, it was another way of looking at the same thing, that's all. Glad you took it in the spirit it was meant.

I look forward to seeing your list, if you share it with us! Maybe you won't because you've decided feedback from random internet sprites isn't feedback worth having!

I've been posting on here (including Baby names) for a few years, Megaly, so clearly I haven't decided that - what was it - 'feedback from internet sprites isn't worth having'. Obviously, like most people I think, I listen to or am entertained by the opinions of the more interesting or informed or simply enthusiastic posters, and pass over the obviously sour or the moronic and/or those whose views are limited or circumscribed by two default reactions: "X is a chavvy name!" or "Y is too posh and the child won't last ninety seconds at a state school" and so forth.

As for my names for my next DC, I think I am pretty much decided but I look on here in case I see a name I hadn't thought of before, which changes my mind. So, I doubt I'll be canvassing your opinion, no.