Religion and Ethics Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Harrowby Hall on November 24, 2020, 08:10:18 AM
-
Do you know of, or have come across, someone whose name is remarkably appropriate to his or her occupation?
I'll start the ball rolling:
My lovely, wonderful wife had cancer. Over the best part of eight years she had several surgical operations. On one occassion she had a metastatic tumour removed from her breast. The surgeon was a locally well-known breast specialist.
His name was Mr Bristol.
-
Famous independent bookshop in Grasmere. (https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/336/18427748333_f2ce96b127.jpg) Mr Read, who founded it in the late 19th Century, retired in (I think) the 1930s, but successive owners kept the name because of its appropriateness. (It's called "nominative determinism", btw.)
-
Well, the local blacksmith firm, which still existed when I was wee 'Smiddy') in our small town was owned by Wullie Smith.... When he died, the business passed to his son-in-law, Finn Steele.
-
Yes my late grandfather, who died before I was born, had a very appropriate name. He was a top civil servant, his brief match his name. ;D
-
Yes my late grandfather, who died before I was born, had a very appropriate name. He was a top civil servant, his brief match his name. ;D
Which was?
Owlswing
)O(
-
It seems there is a dentist in Stourbridge called Dr Payne.
https://stourbridge.cylex-uk.co.uk/company/dr-robert-payne-stourbridge-19562965.html
-
HH,
Hard to beat the famous Philippine cleric who was elevated by the Pope and so became Cardinal Sin...
Incidentally, you're describing I think something called nominative determinism. There are more dentists called Dennis, more lawyers called Lawrence etc than should be the case with a random distribution. It's also the case that people with a 2 in their birthday are more likely to live in places called Twin Falls etc, and to have a 2 in their address than random distribution should produce.
-
I seem to recall something in the New Scientist while I was at university - so mid 90's? - on this, nomnative determinism... might have been linked to the IgNobel prizes early days, but I'm not sure on that.
I think it derived a paper on urology by Splatt and Weedon... made enough of an impression that I still remember that bit now.
O.
-
HH,
Hard to beat the famous Philippine cleric who was elevated by the Pope and so became Cardinal Sin...
Incidentally, you're describing I think something called nominative determinism. There are more dentists called Dennis, more lawyers called Lawrence etc than should be the case with a random distribution. It's also the case that people with a 2 in their birthday are more likely to live in places called Twin Falls etc, and to have a 2 in their address than random distribution should produce.
Probably also explains astrology often getting people's general character traits right, even if it's no good at predicting the future: many people know what theirs are supposed to be, and subconsciously align themselves with it, even if they don't believe in astrology.
-
I seem to recall something in the New Scientist while I was at university - so mid 90's? - on this, nomnative determinism... might have been linked to the IgNobel prizes early days, but I'm not sure on that.
I think it derived a paper on urology by Splatt and Weedon... made enough of an impression that I still remember that bit now.
O.
Referred to here
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism
-
We used to have a local funeral director called Mr Body.
Also, when Yorkshire Water was publically owned by the Yorkshire Water Board, we used to get written permission to visit one of their sites(Top Hill Low) for the purposes of birdwatching. And the name of the manager who we used to see? A certain Mr Gallon!
-
When I lived in Kings Cross (the Sydney version) one of the "working girls" was named Christianne Hoare.
My club's lighting man, until he got five years for burglary, was Dave Bright.
Owlswing
)O(
-
I used to have a neighbour who was a fireman, his name was P Watters.
-
I had a lecturer at university who taught aquatic biology - his name, Dr Fish.
And my kids had two PE teachers, named Mr Jump and Mr Panting.
-
An early example: Wynkyn de Worde, pioneer printer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynkyn_de_Worde
-
Another appropriate name: someone on my local Facebook group who's an anti-vaccine idiot (and, like most of them, semi-literate) has the surname Pratt.
-
Another appropriate name: someone on my local Facebook group who's an anti-vaccine idiot (and, like most of them, semi-literate) has the surname Pratt.
;D