The Media made me do it, Episode II

[oloriel]

Oh, for fuck's...

Dear German Media,

No, it is not that absurd to name a child Sparrow. Aside from the fact that the kid also features a perfectly normal name, it's kind of silly of you to point out triumphantly that Sparrow means Spatz. So? Yes, in German "mein Spatz" is a common enough endearment, but this is not necessarily the case in the English-speaking world (or is it? Quick flist poll: How many of you were nicknamed "my sparrow" by parents or grandmothers?). Even if it is, a sparrow is still a normal term for a small bird.

But you caaaaan't name a boy for a bird, I hear you cry.

Yeah right, idiots. Because there are no Robins or Merlins - or, for those who speak no English and needed the explanation about what Sparrow means in the first place, Falks running around. And none of them are male. Nuh-uh.

So Robin's a perfectly normal male name, and Sparrow isn't?

Buy yourself a babybook and stop being idiots. I mean, why do you even care what other people name their kids? If you're so bothered about naming babies, make your own. For serious. I mean, an online acquaintance of mine named her offspring Emma Josephine Anoriel, but am I giving her any grief?

Srsly.

Not yours,
The mad linguist

- - -

Dear other German media,

So you're airing Firefly. The complete first season (hah!). Congratulations. I hope you are aware that you're about three to four years too late.
I can already hear it. Same way with Doctor Who. "See? Nobody is interested in this kind of thing. Nobody watched the series!"

No, you're just too late. Everybody in this country interested in the series has LONG SINCE bought the DVDs, the soundtrack, and the RPG.
AND the cunning hat.
Everybody interested in Firefly can watch it at any time they please - not at 10 past 10 in the evening on a Saturday, when even nerds have other things to do than watch TV.

Really clever.

Not yours either,
The occasional nerd girl


- - -

When I am too tired to write about, like, real life, all I do is rant. *nods*

Memes are upcoming.

Comments

[fusselbiene.livejournal.com]

I *do* shake my head about some names, I have to admit. Most of the kids with names that make me rise my eyebrows are are Hollywood-offspring or folks who name their kids Adolf Hitler Campbell. Or Pepsi-Carola. Compared to these, sparrow is actually small ammo.

And I am very grateful for the German airing of Firefly - I think it's a rather brave decision, given that it's not a complete series and that many people already have the DVD.
Everyone in our Generation/person who speaks English has the DVD, sure - but my parents aren't that good with English programs, and neither are most of their friends. Loads of them see Firefly for the first time, and since they don't stick around in the internets like we do, they didn't even know it existed. Now they do, and I enjoy sitting in the tram listening to random people in their mid-forties who go through the same fangirl/fanboy squee that I experienced some years ago. ^^

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Oh, no question about the head-shaking. I think place-names - or the grandfathers' names if it results in Adolf-Manfred (yes, I had a guy of that name in one of my classes) - or Diarrhea, for goodness' sake - are horrible things to name kids. All the more astonishing that smug news columnists think they have to ride around on "Sparrow James Midnight". Especially as Sparrow, in the line of Robin and Merlin, isn't really that exotic.

Um, the DVD also contains a German language version...? If you bought it here, that is.
Of course, if any potential new fans actually happen to sit in front of their TV at 10:10 pm on a Saturday and watch Firefly instead of Schlag den Raab (or The Tudors yet again), I'll take it all back...

[laurenia.livejournal.com]

I still think it looks weird to name a boy Sparrow, mostly because of the recent popularity of Pirates of the Caribbean. Sure, Luke and Leia are perfectly acceptable names too, but given in a certain time, it just produces weird associations.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

But with Captain Jack Sparrow in mind, wouldn't it be even weirder to name a girl Sparrow?

And it's not so much the weird associations that bother me - it's just the smug "THEY CAN'T DOOO THIS!". They obviously can. And between crappy names like Apple or Brooklyn, I think Sparrow is downright refreshing...

[laurenia.livejournal.com]

Yup, I don't think that name would be an improvement on a girl.
And true, it can't push "Bronx Mowgli Wentz", "Nesta Zuma Rock Rossdale" and "Pilot Inspector Lee" out of my personal top three of really crappy names.

Even though I have some doubt that Nichole Richie can tell a sparrow from a bald eagle. But that's probably beside the point ;)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Not beside the point, but a different point ;)

And hey, at least this kid has a normal second name.

[fusselbiene.livejournal.com]

To be honest - I'd shake my head at people calling their son 'Merlin' as well. Just because names have been given to people before doesn't make them easier to bare for the child who has to cope with them. Because last time I've checked, kids in primary school don't stop mocking someone just because of linguistic arguments. And the only valid reason for mocking parents because of a name they chose is - IMHO - not taking this into consideration.

Sparrow isn't dramatic - bird names have been given before. Point for the linguistic. The other question (which would be of more importance to me, personally) is, whether this and the frim belief, that everyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot will help the kid in question or not.

"Um, the DVD also contains a German language version...?"
Yes, it does. But not every person in my father's generation has someone in his family who bought the German DVD and forces his/her parents to watch it - and nobody I know buys an unknown television series with cowboys and Spaceships on the cover for mere curiosity.
Oh - and the two bowling club members that were talking about the series in the tram meant to make the whole club watch it - because it's "incredibly cool". Whoever made S-RTL air the show *at all*, I bow to him/her.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Ah, but you can have that with "normal" names like mine, too (though I'd suppose you knew that.) Odd names may give other kids ammunition, but kids in primary school won't stop mocking someone just because of anything, period. I don't think there's any name so normal that it can't rhyme with something silly ("Christiane! Banane! badet in Sahne!" <--- childhood memories) or be changed around ("Victor Ficktor!" <--- still childhood memories), "belongs" to a tv actor or singer ("David! David Hasselhoff!" <--- more childhood memories), a stupid meaning that will be found out eventually ("Phiiiillip the hoooorse-lover!" <--- yet more) or in some other way offers itself for mockery.
I suppose with Sparrow (CAPTAIN!) the parents have just removed the element of surprise. Although the kid has a perfectly normal (if rather boring) second name, so he can just as well introduce himself as James... (James the butler!) Kids are cruel creatures. They always find something to pick on. So in the end, the only thing you can tell your kid is that everybody else is an idiot. ;)

And this has happened in America, where parents are a lot more, um, creative anyway.

Awwwwwwwwww. Ok, you win, I take it all back.

[chili-das-schaf.livejournal.com]

Loads of them see Firefly for the first time, and since they don't stick around in the internets like we do, they didn't even know it existed..

This. There's not a "too late" if there has never been any interest from the first place. Nobody except nerds like us give a damn about Firefly.

Also: I got into ST:TNG fandom in 1994, when the series was just ending in the US. Only after years I found out that it actually was aired weekly in the US, not daily, because the reruns were aired daily on Sat 1 back then. A true hardcore fan would have rolled his eyes to hell and back at me, but without internet in a small town this was all I knew and I nevertheless was a devoted fan to the series. Just four years "too late". If they had aired it on time, when it was all new and fresh and the last craze, I would have been to young and it would have gone right over my head.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Hey, I never said there couldn't be reruns. ;)

[chili-das-schaf.livejournal.com]

Okay, wrongly phrased: The German first airing of ST: TNG (which were actually reruns because the show was already well into its third or fourth season in the US) was three years "too late" and when SAT 1 took over after the second season, they aired them daily, see http://startrek-index.de.