My name is awesome for confusing people. "Laura? Maura? Norma? Dora?" and then do not even get me started on my last name.

I immediately think of "A Doll's House," but I suppose "like Ibsen's Nora" might not get you very far in some circles. I have had to spell Ginger more times than you'd think, even after I do my "ginger ale, gingerbread, ginger snaps" routine. Most people won't even attempt my last name, which we pronounce the way one would pronounce any typical English word. I've heard the way Czechs really pronounce it, but I can't replicate it, plus I understand I should have a feminine ending on it. My great grandfather came over in the 1870s, so we're pretty far away from the old county.

I also have Zenkitty's problem, in that I was named for my mother and therefore have always been Ginger, to avoid confusion. I get checks made out to Ginger and I often forget whether I've used Ginger or Virginia when I signed up for something.

~ma for Nora!

I think a lot of people are like my dad, who seems to need to map a new word onto the pattern of one he already knows.

A guy I work with is like this, to the extreme. I've gotten pretty good at not letting momentary confusion show on my face.

Oh, and in case people here are wondering how to pronounce my name:

Wuz doin it wrong.

Mick-GUN-eh-gull

Wuz doin it rite!

ita, do you pronounce it with an aspirated "t" or the elided palatal "t" used in, for example, "butter?" I think you've said before but I wasn't around or don't remember.

People pronounce my name just fine. It's the spelling that screws them up. All three of my names have common alternate spellings.

Then, just in general life, people who can't remember my name call me Nancy, Naomi, Renee, and one woman consistantly called me Chantel.

As an Andrea, I get Annie, Audrey, Angie, and Angela on a regular basis. When I moved to Arizona, for many people it simply did not register in any part of their brains when I would say it with that Mid-West short-a shoved through the nose, but once I started saying it Ahn-drey-uh, they had no trouble. Then I came back with the Mid-West, and kept the Arizona pronunciation because I like it, and it just doesn't register, again.

As I work with/care for people whose skill at speech vary wildly, there are a couple of them that I told, "My name is Andrea, but you can call me Anna." Those two have a bossy housemate who also has a hearing impairment, who give them talkings-to for calling me "Alla". So I tell her that it is a nick-name that I have given them permission to use - but since she makes such a fuss about what other people are doing, she has to call me Andrea.

Oh, and in case people here are wondering how to pronounce my name:

Wuz doin it wrong.

Me too. Of course, now I'm going to have to pronounce it the way I do "shi*" when I get halfway through the word, and realize I'm at work and don't want to swear in front of the residents. So apparently the silent r stands for looking around to see if anyone caught me.

I immediately think of "A Doll's House," but I suppose "like Ibsen's Nora" might not get you very far in some circles.

I think of Nick and Nora, but that wouldn't fly with the younguns, I think.

do you pronounce it with an aspirated "t" or the elided palatal "t" used in, for example, "butter?"

Can you give me a pronunciation example of an aspirated "t"? I'd have described it that way, but I think I also pronounce it the same way as the ts in butter. I did have a friend who said I pronounced both ts in "little" so it's possible I just speak funny.

I think of Nick and Nora, but that wouldn't fly with the younguns, I think.

It might if you mention "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist."

I had no idea I'd been pronouncing your name wrong all this time! (OTOH, I'm also not sure I've ever actually said your last name out loud. Huh.)

You aren't! He doesn't use the original Gaelic pronunciation; the family uses the Anglicized version: dal (rhymes with pal) ZELL (rhymes with bell).

Shir, I was pronouncing your name "sheer" and now am trying to fix it. My mouth doesn't want to cooperate.

Shir, I was pronouncing your name "sheer"

As was I. But since she said it sounded like "shit" and I have accidentally typed "Shit" numerous times, maybe I can make it work, except I don't want to associate Shir with shit because she is not!

Not to change the subject, but how long after the sell-by date is it safe to use eggs?

Quite a long time, as I recall.