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The Gratingest Generation (Thomas Sowell)
Creators Syndicate ^ | August 5, 2008 | Thomas Sowell

Posted on 08/05/2008 2:24:42 PM PDT by jazusamo

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To: coolbreeze

Then there are bad last names. One of my high school classmates was named David Birdschitz. Student office workers just loved to call him to the office, so they could say his name on the school loudspeakers.


41 posted on 08/05/2008 6:29:22 PM PDT by xJones
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To: r9etb
That is a great site. I ran across this gem from the author:

I got an e-mail a while back from a lady who said she gave her potential baby names a test: did they fit better in the sentence, "Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States [blank] [blank]" or "And now, on the main stage, the Lusty Beaver Adult Club presents the hot action of [blank] [blank]." I think hospital forms should be reformatted to force parents to do just that.

42 posted on 08/05/2008 6:35:42 PM PDT by Huntress (If you have a chip on your shoulder, you think everybody's trying to knock it off.-AnAmericanMother)
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To: Flash Bazbeaux
MacKenzie is worse, though.

Still worse is "Mykhynnzi" or some such goofy spelling.

43 posted on 08/05/2008 6:40:55 PM PDT by Huntress (If you have a chip on your shoulder, you think everybody's trying to knock it off.-AnAmericanMother)
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To: jazusamo
Parents give their children off-the-wall names.

Mr. RightField and I chuckle over just how many ways we have seen the name "Antoine" spelled ... either in his classes at school, or by athletes on television. We have seen Antwaan, Antwan, Antuwan, Auntwan, Aynthwan, and Ontwain, plus others I can't quite remember just now. As Mr. RightField says, "these poor kids don't have a name ... they have a tag." So sad.

44 posted on 08/05/2008 6:44:14 PM PDT by RightField (The older you get .... the older "old" is.)
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To: Huntress

I once worked with a woman who named her first child “Mysti Dawn.” I always felt sorry for that little girl.


45 posted on 08/05/2008 6:50:15 PM PDT by RightField (The older you get .... the older "old" is.)
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To: coolbreeze
coolbreeze

Yanno ...

I saw that name and I thought, "Hey! I know that guy ..."

46 posted on 08/05/2008 6:54:27 PM PDT by NicknamedBob (Hey, Obama! "Not like the other presidents on the dollar bills." You ain't a president yet, Dufus!)
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To: RightField

Was her name Monica? I knew a girl from high school who named her daughter Misti Dawn.


47 posted on 08/05/2008 6:56:14 PM PDT by kalee
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To: coolbreeze
Friend of mine is a middle school gym teacher

Mr. RightField now substitute teaches at a nearby middle school most days. Not only are nearly all the names of these kids just weird, they're downright unpronounceable too. And the girls, especially, have major attitude attacks if he doesn't pronounce their names just right the first time. How would you pronounce "Shrytycheah?"

This year I'm keeping a list of the first names. I may need good input for future FR threads.

48 posted on 08/05/2008 6:56:15 PM PDT by RightField (The older you get .... the older "old" is.)
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To: jazusamo

Damn, I came to this thread looking to read about the Gratingest Generation and all I got was a bunch of chatter about celebrities.


49 posted on 08/05/2008 6:57:22 PM PDT by SamAdams76 (I am 3 days away from outliving Nat King Cole)
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To: RightField
"these poor kids don't have a name ... they have a tag." So sad.

Well said. Going through life they'll have to explain it every time they meet or do business with someone new, it'll get old.

50 posted on 08/05/2008 6:57:31 PM PDT by jazusamo (DefendOurMarines.org | DefendOurTroops.org)
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To: kalee

Nah, the mom’s name was Marie or Maria. It was the misspelling of Misty that got me ... Mysti instead of Misty. This woman lived in San Diego.


51 posted on 08/05/2008 6:58:25 PM PDT by RightField (The older you get .... the older "old" is.)
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To: SamAdams76

Well damn, they grate too. ;-)


52 posted on 08/05/2008 7:00:46 PM PDT by jazusamo (DefendOurMarines.org | DefendOurTroops.org)
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To: RightField
I once worked with a woman who named her first child “Mysti Dawn.”

That would fit in pretty well at the Lusty Beaver Adult Club.

53 posted on 08/05/2008 7:09:39 PM PDT by Huntress (If you have a chip on your shoulder, you think everybody's trying to knock it off.-AnAmericanMother)
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To: jazusamo
TS: When you see old films of Joe Louis or Rocky Marciano, you see adults acting like adults— indeed, like gentlemen.

So true. Just saw a snip about Dean Martin. He was married to the same woman all his life. His celeb personality was quite different from the personal man. In either case, on stage or off, there was a grace and dignity about the man. So absent from so many Hollywood types. The whole media scene has turned into a 12 year olds' "fan club of the stars". I think that's why I cable turned off in the early 90s. It just got so terribly boring.

54 posted on 08/05/2008 7:24:08 PM PDT by Alia
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To: Alia

That’s so true. In that era there were many celebrities that were ladies and gentlemen, their private lives kept separate from their work.


55 posted on 08/05/2008 7:29:42 PM PDT by jazusamo (DefendOurMarines.org | DefendOurTroops.org)
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To: GraceCoolidge

IIRC, that was Paul Brown.


56 posted on 08/06/2008 5:31:00 AM PDT by day10 (Rules cannot substitute for character.)
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To: NicknamedBob

HI BOB!...Long time no type!


57 posted on 08/06/2008 6:51:18 AM PDT by coolbreeze (giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teen-age boys.)
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To: jazusamo

Bump for later today...


58 posted on 08/06/2008 7:15:02 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: jazusamo

You are exactly right and I have been thinking this for a long time that Ali was primarily responsible for all the boasting and bragging that has become such a reprehensible part of our culture. It’s a “black thing”, “You (I) won’t understand”.

A nation of brats with meaningless “self-esteem” that are “somebody”. And of course, they’re all “special”. And I really don’t want to know how you “feel”. I might possibly want to know what you may think sometime, if you are at least semi-literate and semi-articulate, but I doubt it, so please STFU. Thank you.

Another thing besides the endless talking and pseudo analysis of every trivial, pointless bit of “information” is the constant stream of music everywhere. You can’t avoid it. People are afraid of silence, they are unnerved by it.


59 posted on 08/06/2008 7:41:58 AM PDT by garyhope (VRWC TWP)
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To: RightField

Hmm, “Antonie” was the first name of my paternal grandmother. My wife and I both have a fondness for older names that have a lot of meaning and history. We’re thinking of naming our first daughter after her.


60 posted on 08/06/2008 8:38:45 AM PDT by Crolis (Married since June 7, 2008!)
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