Althouse: "'If I don't like somebody's name... I won't like them very much,' he explains unabashedly."

March 19, 2013

"'If I don't like somebody's name... I won't like them very much,' he explains unabashedly."

"My name, Audrey, for example, tastes strongly of tinned tomatoes. 'If I actually had to speak with you every day, I'd try and shorten [your name] somehow,' Wannerton tells me."

11 comments:

virgil xenophon said...: I once knew a guy unfortunately stuck with the monicker of Roe Haddock--I wonder how he would taste to Wannerton, lol.; 3/19/13, 8:39 AM
virgil xenophon said...: PS: If EVER there was a guy who could have plead "justifiable homicide" for murdering his parents, Roe would have been it, lol.; 3/19/13, 8:42 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Funny, I would have thought "Audrey" to be a woody sort of word.; 3/19/13, 9:06 AM
Phil 314 said...: Smells like teen spirit.; 3/19/13, 9:08 AM
edutcher said...: I like the name, Audrey. Very French.

But, just to show how petty people can be, the head of the Great Northern Railroad, Henry Villard, once fired a man on the grounds his name was Charles Swinburne Spittles.

People can give slime a bad name.; 3/19/13, 9:12 AM
Sharc said...: Audrey. Gorn. Gorn. Caribou gorn. Audrey. Gorn. Definitely has a woody feel to it.; 3/19/13, 9:29 AM
glenn said...: Tell this moron you didn't want to be his friend anyhow.; 3/19/13, 9:41 AM
Amartel said...: This synesthesia seems like it would be very subjective, just like any other human response to outside stimuli, but it's being discussed in the article by the afflicted as some sort of objective truth meter. The chef and the sommelier are making money off it, selling their subjective taste/smell experiences, and the tomato guy is using it as an excuse to be an asshole to other people. He enjoys that, at the end of the day. Unabashedly.; 3/19/13, 11:03 AM
Unknown said...: Luckily for me James Wannerton has no taste at all.; 3/19/13, 11:12 AM
Crunchy Frog said...: This article is in very bad taste.; 3/19/13, 2:42 PM
Methadras said...: Amartel said...

This synesthesia seems like it would be very subjective, just like any other human response to outside stimuli, but it's being discussed in the article by the afflicted as some sort of objective truth meter. The chef and the sommelier are making money off it, selling their subjective taste/smell experiences, and the tomato guy is using it as an excuse to be an asshole to other people. He enjoys that, at the end of the day. Unabashedly.

Synesthesia is highly subjective because it is different for anyone who has it. I have it and I've catalogued it here for people to read on several occasions. I'm beginning to suspect that everyone has it to some degree in a very muted way for a lot of people. My synesthesia is more pronounced since it affects all 5 of my senses.; 3/19/13, 10:38 PM