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Questions tagged [personal-names]

Topics related to given names, surnames, and linguistic aspects of naming in English.

11 votes
3 answers
2k views

Are there other proposed translations of "aelfheres" in Beowulf than a name?

Am looking at the online Beowulf site, and wonder about "aelfheres" that is translated as a name. XXXVI WIGlaf wæs haten, Weoxstanes sunu, leoflic lindwiga, leod Scylfinga, mæg ...
Tomas By's user avatar
  • 327
0 votes
0 answers
41 views

Quotation Marks on Names [closed]

American English - If I'm writing about dogs, "The Big One" became "Rowdy." Would I put the names in quotations or only the nickname?
Stacy L's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
634 views

How do you pronounce Greenough?

A fairly popular resource over on Latin SE is Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar. Now, "Allen" is fairly straightforward, but how the [redacted] do you pronounce Greenough? Was he a ...
No Name's user avatar
  • 1,344
3 votes
2 answers
150 views

Is there a correct answer to "How should foreign names be pronounced in English"? [duplicate]

There are some names that are pronounced very differently in English Language media around the world. One famous example is Vincent van Gogh the artist, another that is in a lot of media at the ...
User65535's user avatar
  • 231
22 votes
3 answers
5k views

Why is Siobhan pronounced with a /v/ sound in English?

In English the name Siobhan is typically pronounced /ʃəvɔːn/. English speakers typically find this unintuitive, but the typical explanation is that the name is from Irish and that's how it's ...
Sriotchilism O'Zaic's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
50 views

What rule dictates the use of articles with nouns in names?

I've recently started working for an organization -- for the sake of argument, let's say it's an institute that studies lacrosse in the state of Utah. I've been told by various people in the senior ...
JeanSibelius's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
30 views

How to write a name of competition in an article? [duplicate]

Hi I am translating text from Polish to English. I would like to ask you about your thoughts on it: A title of a newspaper is in Polish, do I need to add quotation marks or italics? The name of ...
Milena's user avatar
  • 9
4 votes
4 answers
2k views

Are names of chemicals not proper nouns?

I notice that people often use "gold" and "diamond" in lower case. Yet as far as I see it these are all "proper names" of an abstract idea and really ought to be ...
Sidharth Ghoshal's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
35 views

How to unambiguously write a name with multiple of each component?

Preamble Each PH stands for Placeholder. Context I'm quite normal - I've one first name, one last name, but two middle names: First Second (Middle) Third (Surname) Roke Julian Lockhart Beedell ...
RokeJulianLockhart's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
154 views

Who was the original Dr. Feelgood, and what did he practice?

I am interested in the emergence and evolution of the slang term “Doctor Feelgood.” J.L. Lighter, The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang (1994) has this entry for the term: Doctor ...
Sven Yargs's user avatar
  • 165k
9 votes
7 answers
5k views

What's the name of the room where you watch a movie inside the movie theater?

In Portuguese we call "Rooms" the places inside the movie theater where we actually watch the movie. What are they called in English? I searched, even in movie tickets, but only found "...
franksands's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
81 views

Correct Possessive Form for the Name "James" [duplicate]

I have a son named James. James has a toy. When I speak and refer to his toy, should I say "Jaymz toy" or "Jaymz-iz toy?" Please avoid telling me how to spell it; I understand it ...
Display name's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
12 views

How to write initials? [duplicate]

What is the correct way to write my initials? MDH or M.D.H. (with or without the periods?)
user499937's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
30 views

Is this an example of antonomasia? Or a different literary device? [duplicate]

Beowulf often avoids using the names of characters, instead referring to them by some other word, compound word, or phrase. For example, Thomas Meyer's translation mostly refers to Grendel as anything ...
Silvirs's user avatar
  • 101
-1 votes
1 answer
69 views

Should "the" always be capitalised if it is part of a proper name?

In brief, which of the following is correct? Alfred is fighting against a villain known as "The Penguin". Alfred punched the Penguin in the face. or Alfred punched The Penguin in the face....
Flounderer's user avatar

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