What's in a name?

 My sister hated her name!  Officially she was Gillian but she preferred Gill.  Anyone who met her after she was about eighteen knew her as Gill but in the family she was always Gillian.  I don't think I've met many Gillians who are younger than me (although I've heard of some) and I think of it as a name of the 1940's.  

I can't imagine having any name other than the one I've got.  Mary.  I don't know any Marys younger than me, or rather I don't know any younger women who use the name Mary.  I baptised several girls who had Mary as a middle name, often because that was Granny's name.

I came across a fascinating site recently where a researcher had asked people what characteristics they associated with various names.  Here's the word cloud for the expectations of a Mary.

Does it match your expectations?  I'm happy to be thought of as dependable and happy rather than confrontational and grumpy.

If you fancy checking out your own name, here's a link.  The list is rather limited but you could look for family and friends.  

A favourite website

I love words.  One of my reasons for publishing this blog is that I enjoy writing short pieces and thinking of the best ways to express my thoughts.  Each post is saved for a while before it is published and by the time I hit the publish button I will have re-read a post several times.  I like to structure my writing and vary my use of language. 

And I love words!  "Serendipity" is a word which always makes me smile.  "Clariflocculator" is a lovely bubbly word.  "Twill" is a short word which suits its meaning and suggests purposefulness and smartness.

I could go and on but as you will have guessed from the title of the post, I want to suggest a lovely website, viz. https://wordsmith.org   Each week they have a series of linked words - this week all the words are to do with space and space travel.  Sometimes they are words which I know already: today's word is "light-year" but I enjoy the background information and derivation of the word.  Did you know that to get a light-year’s worth of frequent-flier miles you’d need to travel between New York and Moscow only a little over a billion times?  Me neither and I'll probably have forgotten by this time next week but it has amused me today.  Sometimes they are words which I have never heard - could you tell me the meaning of satyagraha?  No?  Well, I'll tell you that it's the policy of passive nonviolent resistance as a protest against injustice.  It was coined by Gandhi during the independence struggles in India and is again in use by civil rights activists.

Each day I get an email from the site.  Why not pop over and take a look!