Nomenclature

[toujours_nigel]

Quite near a cafe my friends and I frequent is a guest-house called "The Human Element Guest-House". I kid you not, my face is somber. But why that name? None of us has ever approached the owner to ask him this. We shrug, point and laugh, at times take photographs of this, but it has not yet happened that we have asked him/her.

Of course, the story might be quite boring, real stories sometimes are, but it's likely to be convoluted. Ask someone on the street why they are named what they are, and you'll likely end with a long explanation you wish you'd not heard. Names are interesting things. Sadly, a lot of the interest they hold is that of those who choose it. Y'see (my Amreekan and/or Uropian frendz) we pick names because of their meaning and they often are attributes one wishes upon the child.

This can, and often does, have hilarious and/or ironic results. A kid called Padmalochan (Lotus-eyes), might develop a squint, or Sudarshan (Good-looking) might be, well, ugly. This, as one can see, is of some little concern; a woman I know refused to name her kid something she mightn't grow up to become. Henry VII's eldest, Arthur, died before he could become England's Once and Future King. I'm always horror-struck by women called any version of Draupadi and/or Sita's name.

But that's reality; fictional names are far more interesting. Take, for instance, Sirius Black, who becomes a black dog, or Remus Lupin, who's a werewolf. Or take, again, the name that first prompted me to write this. Hallam Tennyson, named after Arthur Hallam. Or, rather, Hallam/Tennyson. Why would you name your kid after your lover?

Or, to revert to Harry Potter, why the fuck would you name your daughter after your mother, and your sons after the two men in their lives? Reallly, why? (Unless you're supporting siblingcest, in which case, carry on, boss. In this vein I mention James/Sirius Potter.)

Why this blathering? Only because Charlie names his betting stand 'Mikhail & Co.' and, being sure that, boss, Mikhail died, one wonders how he might've explained that to the diamon-clad bimbette in the large hat, and is very amused, as mentioned, by the Hallam/Tennyson style of naming. Also, perhaps, because the grad-school application essay must be drafted and I am, as usual, procrastinating.