But St. John is pronounced sin-jun, right?

It is, yes. I was at school with a boy called St.John, and he was most startled that I happened to know how to spell it.

...it struck me the other day, on that basis, that Sinclair is presumably a derivation of St Clare.

...it struck me the other day, on that basis, that Sinclair is presumably a derivation of St Clare.

In the second Anne of Green Gables book, there's a little boy named St. Clare. His mother is very insistant on the "proper" pronunciation of their last name, Donnell -- it's Don-NELL, not DON-nell -- and I always wondered whether St. Clare was meant to be pronounced Sinclair, but it's never mentioned in the text.

It is, yes. I was at school with a boy called St.John, and he was most startled that I happened to know how to spell it.

Took me forever to figure out what I was hearing (like DECADES) but when I was in grade school, I used to listen to a Monty Python record where one of the characters is Norman St. John Polevaulter. I couldn't figure out how the name Sinjun was really spelt. Heh.

I think it might have been seeing the movie of SLEUTH, where the name of Olivier's detective in his novels was Lord St. John Merridew.

I don't think I figured out the Sinjun thing until I read a romance novel where the female protagonist insisted on being called Sinjun, and the author spelled it that way.

Yeah, it took me ages to connect the written St. John name with the pronounciation -- I'd encountered both, but it never occured to me that they were the same word. I think it might have finally clicked when I saw the movie version of Jane Eyre.

Yeah, I first got it when we were reading Jane Eyre for Academic Decathlon, and really, I only got it because the study materials told us how it should be pronounced.

I always wondered whether St. Clare was meant to be pronounced Sinclair, but it's never mentioned in the text.

I know of a St. Claire who is Sinclair. Actually I knew the St. Clair before I had even heard of any St. John, so that's the name I was totally tripped up on.

Listening to the audiobook of Dealthy Hallows is bringing so many details to a new light. Mostly, I suppose, because I read the book so quickly.

The big Dobby scene...You. Must. Not. Hurt. Harry. Potter!! nearly killed me ded all over again. Jim Dale's interpretation is even more heart breaking than the printed version. ::sniff::

Then, later, when Luna is arranging wild flowers in a jam jar next to the headstone. Such a small moment, and yet so lovely.

Jim Dale deserves another Grammy, no question. He makes listening to the books on tape or CD such a wonderful experience. He's a master. I don't know how he does it, to go from Grorp's (sp? that's one problem with listening; I'm not sure how to spell some of the names) voice to Luna's to Ron to Hermione in a breath. He's AMAZING.