A Rose By Any Other Name Is, Quite Frankly, Stoopid

Let me preface: It’s not just me. Nearly every new company brand is a misspelled or made up word, and we’ve long been used to some of them …

Chick-fil-A, Cheez Whiz, Publix

… and tolerated most of them and many, many others (IMHO, my English teacher, Ms. Nakaua (sp?) is rolling her eyes right now at my “many, many” reference, but at least there’re only two “manys” (is that even a word???) and ya’ll know I luv a twofur …

[oops, I digress]

Let’s look at a few more that popped up in the last century … of course, nearly every name known to search engines, web paraphernalia and graphic sites are chock full of ‘em … perhaps you’ve heard of:

Flickr, Reddit, Digg, Fiverr, Tumblr

as well as these brands:

Kool-Aid, Trix, Rice Krispies, Froot Loops, Lite Brite, Play-Doh, Slip 'N Slide

That’s a lot to remember, much less differentiate from the actual real spelling of these words … ain’t it just like us to change and make up new words that make even less sense than some that we already have, dare I mention:

So what led me to this post to begin with? An ad running rampant through the few games I played on my phone today—and that ran throughout the BFCM and Holiday sales in November and December—and the winner is:

What Does This Mean For Us Simple Folk? (Read, Old)

Well, it means we now have to learn yet another new language (remember when LOL, BRB and ATM made us scratch our heads, squint our eyes and grind our teeth? Oh, wait, I still thought ATM meant “automated teller machine” but now it, too, has a double meaning:  “at the moment.”

Geez, Louise, it gets hairier and hairier and now my kids are asking each other “What does ‘gets hairier’ mean?” Yup, I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve and I can still out spell ‘em

SMH … kids … YFM?

Now, back to business, here’s one I bet none of those smart-alecky kids know:

K.I.S.S.
Keep It Simple Silly

While you can always substitute the last “S” with “Stoopid,” it is more polite not to.

SRY, TMI, TBH

And, in conclusion:  FWIW, the ETA for EOD at my TE925(R825BWC?) job—read:

My Thoroughly Exhausting 9-5 (Really 8-5, But Who's Counting?) Job

is here and, IDK—NGL—my POV is, as ma chère mère would say, “too pooped to pot” (read:  too tired) … (Love & Miss You, Momma) and about as clear as mud.

B4N . TY . YW 

Addendum, 010125

Getting old is frightful: I was cleaning out a "ToDos Nov 2024" folder and spied a document entitled: "A Rose by any other Name" and I thought "Wait, didn't I just right that?" (I meant "write" that :)) and it hit me, that sounded familiar because I'd begun a blog post in October 2024 with the same name, but never finished or posted it ... and I even wrote it with centered and bolded text, too). Well, there's no time like the present, eh?

A Who By Any Other Name

Were you the kid at Disneyland that could never find a mug, hat or license plate with your name on it? What was needed back then and you can find one right now, is the coveted:

custom order

Here, at A Wee Bit More, we strive to bring that kid hiding in the back of the class, to the head of the line, no longer feeling left out or having to settle for a substitute because they only offered one option of your name:

spelled with a “y” and not an “i”

With custom orders, as we have here at A Wee Bit More, there is only the spelling that YOU provide; you will never be hindered by the dreaded “You spell it how? Who knew?

YOU knew, and you can rest assured that anything that can be personalized, will be personalized.

You need but ask.

I’ve been blessed with two names that fall into that category, given and nick (names, of course), and how I got so lucky I’ll never know.

I always introduce myself first, with the name, and second with the spelling variant: either Sandi (with an “i” for family and friends) or Sheilla (with 2 “l”s … this one also requires a complete spelling as the traditional version is, in and of itself, nearly always misspelled).

I have only one child with a “black” name (as told to me by another child’s friend) that also needs to be spelled, “T-A-V-I-A” but everyone likes it, so it’s always a hit and she likes that it’s different. BTW, I must say that I had no input in spelling any of my 5 children’s names except to say I liked the name that my sister-in-law offered up: “Tavia” and I wasn’t gonna name her “Lois” her granny’s name as that sounded too old for an itty, bitty baby girl ... We have 3 Franks and a Franklin, multiple Johns, my stepsister named her daughter after Momma, so 2 Nitas (formally: Anita), and my Daddy’s name is Richard, as is my brother, Dickey) and my stepfather … need I say more?

But, still speaking of similarities …

Check this out:

1. I share a birthday with my first cousin John, April 2, both on the same day and the same hospital and we weighed the same amount and were the same length (our mothers are sisters) … we’re 3 years apart;
2. My first daughter, Tavia, shares a birthday with her first cousin Maurice, who we lost this year (may he rest in peace Love You Big Moe);
3. That same nephew Maurice not only shared a birthday with Tavia, December 7, his homecoming was the same day as my 2nd grandson Ellis’ birth, May 15, who shares that same birthday with his uncle Stephen (may he rest in peace Love You Uncle Stephen);
4. Tavia’s birthday is one day before her cousin Dominic’s, which is December 6;
5. My beloved cousin Mary passed away on my daughter Alex’ 17th birthday, in 2013 and we were both born in the same year (nah, I’m not gonna say which one), our mothers both had three children each, and both had a boy first and then 2 girls … her birthday was November 22, so we often celebrated her birthday on Thanksgiving (may she rest in peace Love You Mary ... chocolate and vanilla forever :));
6. We moved into the home we still live in today, I started a new job and I opened my Etsy store in 2013;
7. My first son, Frankie, is the IV, so he shares a name w/his father and grandfather (he was late as his due date was New Year's Eve, and his Auntie Gail just happened to get married on the day he was born, January 7;
8. Tavia and Frankie are approximately 13 months apart: December 7 and January 7;
9. Frankie’s father is also born in January as is his Auntie Nett, born the day after that, on the 10th and 11th.
10. My second daughter, Alex (yeah, that’s Alex), shares a birth month with her Aunt Bobbie (on March 23, the same day as my grandbabies’ father … known officially as: HWSNBN – He Who Shall Not Be Named), her sister, Grace, and her niece, Zoey, whose birthday is the day after her Goo Goo’s (yeah, that’s Grace);
11. Third daughter Grace is an Aries, like her momma (that would be me);
12. Last child and 2nd son, David, was born at the same time as his momma (again, that would be me) at 7:28p.m. at the same hospital (but different locations), on Christmas Eve (him, not me);
13. His cousin, Aneka, was born on Christmas Day; and two of her 3 girls share November birthdays, while her last daughter shares a birthday with Tavia’s oldest son, my first grandbaby, Aiden, both born on December 30, 3 years apart;
14. Finally, my beloved momma passed in December 2005, on the 11th, the day before my best friend Shirleen’s birthday, December 12; and
15. There’s an old saying to go with the paragraph below, in keeping with our family’s penchant for [degrees of] separation:

My sister Cherie was born in September, me and first cousin John were born in April, Momma was born in June, Daddy was born in November and my brother Dickey (a junior) was born in February, à la:

30 days has September, April, June and November,
all the rest have 31, except in February alone

Now, that’s a ton of serendipity … and here’s the last one, I promise:

In 1989, there were four additional major events in our family: Zoey was born, and Grace, Frankie and my nephew Bobby all had momentous birthdays … too bad they won’t let me say which ones … and I can’t leave out my cousin Mel and niece Aja, both born in January.

and, my dear friends, if that ain’t fortuitous
I’ll eat my hat

Lest I not forget where we started, we take custom orders and where possible, can create new products to your specific design.

Now ain’t that a hoot?

AWBM Blog Post #045 | 31 December 2024 & 1 January 2025