It’s Greek to Me
Reading Plato’s Republic, I called Mykala over to share a passage with her about Plato saying “But I am too stupid to be convinced by him.” I never got there because the “him” was Thrasymachus. Now, while reading the passage, I went with the pronunciation Thrassy-maykuss, which caused both of us to halt a minute or two later. “What?” Mykala asked, genuinely puzzled by my pronunciation. “I was just trying to read through it and get to the point,” I replied. Mykala took one glance at the page and said, “Oh, Thrasimakiss.” Stunned silence from both sides.
We wonder about me sometimes.
Comments
John
It's ok Alex. Most people have never heard of a name like that. But when I have kid, that's what I will name him/her. Thrassy-maykuss if it is a boy. Thrasimakiss if it is a girl. Of course, the spelling will be the same.
Justin Gehring
Did you get my email?
Also: I like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintence. Less greek, less confusing.
Nils
Let's be honest, Greek names can be unreasonably hard to pronounce, but when you can pronounce them, they sound phenomenal. Roman names sound pretty cool too: Maximus, Constantine, Marcus Aurelius; you just don't mess with guys that have names like that.
Markoe
I would'nt mess with a dude named Caligula.
Alexander Micek
Man, Rome has a crazy history. Caligula, the emperor: "The ancient sources are unanimous as to the cause of Caligula's downfall: he was insane. The sources describe his incestuous relations with his sisters, his selling to the highest bidder of the wives of high ranking Senate members during sexual orgies, his laughable military campaigns in the north, the plan to make Incitatus a consul, and his habit of roaming the halls of his palace at night ordering the sun to rise." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula
But, even crazier, the film Caligula: "The film was heavily panned by critics. Roger Ebert gave it zero stars, describing it as "sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash"; a generation later it remained on the list of his most hated films." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula_(film)
Uhh, but dang, Gladiator was a good movie. And that incorporated that Marcus Aurelius character. Powerful names.