A well-chosen set of preconditions really leads to original challenges. Ionica Smeets challenges you this summer. Episode 3: Do Something Almost In Your Name.
Do you know who is the creator of the popular online game Wordle, where you have to guess a word? It’s… John Wardle. I wonder how it went when he was looking for a name. He probably wanted something with ‘word’ in it, because this covered the load well and then something on the side. And then it was a small step from Wardle to Wordle.
It’s nice to name something so subtle after yourself. I was thinking of the great Street sign blues that Jeroen van Merwijk wrote for Harrie Jekkers. In that song, Jekkers wonders what people like Adriaan van Ostade and Peerke Donders have done so that their name came up on a street sign. But then he walks through Monseigneur Bekkerslaan (‘Well, I’ve never heard of it, although he must have done something about it’) and Jekkers turns it into Monseigneur Jekkerslaan with a felt-tip pen.
There are wonderful examples of aptonyms: people who have a profession that fits their name perfectly, such as Ferry Kok that cook is on a ferry, Henny de Haan who was chairman of the Dutch Union of Poultry Farmers or the American lawyer Sue Yoo.
There is also research that shows that people like to choose a profession or place of residence that fits their name, such as the article published in 2002 with the cool title: Why Susie Sells Seashells by the Seashore: Implicit Egotism and Major Life Decisions. In it, the authors show, among other things, that in America Laura and Larry relatively often lawyer (would they then become laboratory technicians in the Netherlands?), while Denise and Dennis are overrepresented among dentists.
One who managed to use his name in two ways is William Crush, who worked for an American in 1896 shighway company. He devised a publicity stunt involving a collision of two old locomotives, which could then attract thousands of people (by train, so that the railway company made a lot of money from this event). A special village along the track was set up for this spectacle and Crush modestly called it Crush – and the event was called ‘Crash at Crush’. Also one letter different from his last name.
Unfortunately, the collision went completely wrong, boilers exploded, debris flew through the air, two spectators died and others were injured. Crush was fired that same night, but rehired a day later, was rumored to receive a bonus and worked for the same railroad company until his retirement. Yet I would not advise you to follow his example too literally.
But what can you do that is in your name except for one letter? Cornald Maas can go in all kinds of directions and can, for example, become Prime Minister (Cornald Baas), astronaut (Cornald Mars) or gastroenterologist (Cornald Maag). My former assistant Stefanie Brackenhoff objected that this is especially nice for people with a short last name, what could she think of with her name? A day later I texted her: ‘Autosloperij Wrackenhoff’. If her promotion in astronomy fails, she now has a great plan B. I have that for myself too: I can emigrate to New Zealand and start a candy store: Ionica Sweets.
Have you taken up this challenge? Send a message with the results to [email protected].