Monday, December 03, 2007

What's in a name?

In some ways, mostly daft, certain parts of my fuzzy brain are set in stone. One of the daftest Stonoids sometimes affects my reading.

It's my utter loathing for the name Gillian. I just cannot handle it. If I read a book about a supposedly sympathetic character called Gillian, I have no sympathy. To me, a Gillian is automatically the bad gal. I wait through the entire book for her to turn on every other character and if she doesn't I am utterly dissatisfied. And I still have no sympathy for her. Whatever happens.

That's probably the most extreme example of Name Stonoid Disease, but there are others. To me, the name Caroline exudes confidence. That means that if I run into a heroine called Caroline who is weak and soft, I simply lose all belief in her. 'Pah, Caroline, pull out those sharp bitch nails i know you have under your fluffy paws and give 'em hell!'

As for characters called Louise or Emma, I'm afraid I can't even pick those books up off the shelves. Nothing personal. There are just too darn many of them in too many books. Rightly or wrongly, to me it says 'bland'. Probably wrongly, but that's Name Stonoid Disease for you.

If this is the day I find out all my readers are called Gillian and have written books with heroines called Louise and Emma, not to worry. I'll just set Caroline on you. And, by the way, can I call you Jill?

11 comments:

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

Now is it because you had a bad experience with a girl named Gillian? I had a bad experience with a Cathy and so I cringe when I hear that name, a little. I guess you can't help but equate a name with the people you know who have it.

McKoala said...

Exactly!

Robin S. said...

Oh, yeah, we have long memories for names, don't we? I do, too.

And when I see Gillian, I always want to pronounce it with a hard G - like fish gills. Even though I know that's wrong, I do it anyway.
And I think of fish gills.

Of course, in all fairness, when a Gillian sees my name, she may think of Robin Red Breast or Robin Hood.

Sandra Cormier said...

When I see Gillian, I think of Gillian Anderson who plays Scully in X-Files. She's adorable!

McKoala said...

Weirdly Robin, I like the name 'Gillon' (hard G), but Gillian either way just sets my teeth on edge! Sorry Chumplet...

Chris Eldin said...

After I read this, I really really wanted to find a song about a girl named Gillian. Imagine my disappointment when I couldn't find one.
It was all getting so complicated...
And I was hungry for some cheeze pizza after spending two hours on Google looking for Gillian.
More complicated....
:-)

McKoala said...

Aw CL, you devoted so much time to taunting me! I'm touched.

Robin S. said...

Hey McK - How goes it down under?

It's a crappy rainy bleccchhhy Sunday morning here.

McKoala said...

Monday morning here. Feels cooler than yesterday which was too humid for my liking. Just checking in before feeding the family. Will post today! What about?

Robin S. said...

How about...how your WIP is going?
What your goal is with your writing, and how you're feeling - time constrained, irriated, happy, takin' a break?

McKoala said...

Actual writing stuff? Oh my. Sure, but it will be tomorrow, alas, had some sudden work to do today (isn't work always a surprise...).