Re: (OT) Re: Anthroponymy (was Re: Re: Laadan)

On Mon, 16 Dec 2002 13:47:25 -0500 John Cowan <jcowan@...>
writes:
> In Austria-Hungary, when Jews were compelled to take surnames, they
> sometimes
> had to bribe the officials to get good ones, and poor people were
> stuck
> with the losers: hence the joke about the fellow who got the name
> "Schweisshund".
> "What, you didn't pay enough?"
> "You have no idea how much I had to pay for just the 'w'!"
> --
> John Cowan    http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
-

The Romaniote Jews of Greece are known for having self-chosen names that
have to do with Jewish holidays, for instance "Pesah" (Passover) or
"Hanuka".  In high school my brother knew a Romaniote whose last name was
"Hametz" (leavened food that needs to be gotten rid of before Passover),
which always made discussions of "getting rid of the 'hametz'" or
"burning the 'hametz'" very interesting...  Of course, in English she
pronounced her last name /'h&mIts/ instead of /xa'mets/.


-Stephen (Steg)
 "you cannot move me where you please,
  the world is not your chessboard and i am not your pawn;
  you cannot treat me like disease:
  'take two and call me in the morning'?
  in the morning i'll be gone!
  cause i don't do like that,
  and i don't bend that way;
  twise myself from off your finger,
  cut the strings and fall away;
  think you've got me where you want me,
  there's something you don't know:
  i'll be gone before you know it,
  turn around and there i go..."
     ~ 'there i go' by jason spitz