Xenonomy
I quote to you from the table of contents from the March, 2005 issue of San Francisco, which I was perusing the other day in the orthopod's office (and which page I ripped out of the magazine):
How Not to Raise a Social Pariah 78
Is your Sophie or Trent a bit of an outcast? Then get ready for a social skills class, the buzzed-over group therapy for kids that Bay Area parents are starting to treat like the second coming of Ritalin.
Now, I know (if "know" isn't too strong a word to apply to someone who, the last time I saw her, had not yet attained to the age of two) a young person named "Sophie", even spelled that way, and I even defended the choice of name against notional pooh-poohers, so I feel a little bad scoffing here, but come on. I had forgotten about the "second coming of Ritalin" part, but let's face it, the first sentence is bad enough.
Question: would any such sentence, with two given names instead of "daughter or son", be as offensive? Is it the suggestion not just that the magazine is targeted strongly to a specific demographic, and knows it, but that that demographic is homogenous enough that characteristic names are so easily divined, or is it something about this particular demographic? It's entirely possible that my distaste owes something to the general distastefulness of these metropolitan magazines (Chicago has the same flaw). But the air of self-satisfaction seems especially strong here.
Comments
on 2005-11-02 22:18:09.0, Standpipe Bridgeplate commented:
There is no orthodoxer way to spell "Sophie".
and, further, on 2005-11-02 22:20:13.0, ben wolfson commented:
I prefer "Sophie" to any other name with the same pronunciation, but "Sofia" to "Sophia".
and, further, on 2005-11-02 22:46:43.0, Standpipe Bridgeplate commented:
Right, I should have written /soʊfi:/.
and, further, on 2005-11-09 17:42:52.0, apostropher commented:
would any such sentence, with two given names instead of "daughter or son", be as offensive?
your Tyquan or Shaniqua your Shlomo or Hadassah your Bubba or TammyRay your Dakota or Moonflower
Nope, guess not.
and, further, on 2005-11-09 18:21:52.0, ben wolfson commented:
I see you have placed the son's name first.
and, further, on 2005-11-10 4:40:09.0, apostropher commented:
Hmm. So I have.