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What's in a name?

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  • What's in a name?

    BG I teach adult students online. /end BG

    Every now and again, I think about a student I had about four years ago. This was in an online business writing class, so as you can imagine, there was an emphasis on being respectful and polite. And following directions/standard formats.

    Because this was an online class, my name was plastered everywhere. Just like this discussion board, my name is tied to every post I make. One could just copy and paste my name, in fact, instead of having to type it out.

    But this one student consistently misspelled my name -- Miss Fatalie instead of Miss Fatale. An error that I thought was just a typo or something the first few times it happened. But it kept happening. . . .

    I sent the student a note saying, "Here's how my name is spelled, in the business world it's important to get names correct, blah blah."

    Student replied, "Okay, but I don't really pay attention to names. If you want me to, I'll spell it correctly."

    I've often wondered about that student and how various managers and supervisors (and coworkers) have felt about that.
    Last edited by Miss Fatale; 07-27-2012, 04:05 AM.

  • #2
    Quoth Miss Fatale View Post
    I sent the student a note saying, "Here's how my name is spelled, in the business world it's important to get names correct, blah blah."

    Student replied, "Okay, but I don't really pay attention to names. If you want me to, I'll spell it correctly."
    (emphasis mine).

    Yeah, that's called narcissism. I'd love to point out how that doesn't go down well in the real world, sadly it doesn't But it's just a telling sign that they're self-centred, and probably also they're trying to get a rise out of you. Dork
    Ne auderis delere orbem rigidum meum! - Don't you dare erase my hard disk!

    This is Tech Support, not Customer Service.
    What's the difference?
    We're allowed to tell you "no".

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    • #3
      I wonder how quickly you'd have been corrected if you'd started misspelling her name?
      "If you pray very hard, you can become a cat person." -Angela, "The Office"

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      • #4
        Quoth Draper Mel View Post
        I wonder how quickly you'd have been corrected if you'd started misspelling her name?
        Right?! I get the feeling the student wouldn't have been too happy if I called them Stoodint or something.

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        • #5
          I'm sorry to say you've failed the course. Yes I know you got a mixture of As and Bs, but I don't pay attention to grades...
          This was one of those times where my mouth says "have a nice day" but my brain says "go step on a Lego". - RegisterAce
          I can't make something magically appear to fulfill all your hopes and dreams. Believe me, if I could I'd be the first person I'd help. - Trixie

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          • #6
            Quoth Miss Fatale View Post
            I sent the student a note saying, "Here's how my name is spelled, in the business world it's important to get names correct, blah blah."

            Student replied, "Okay, but I don't really pay attention to names. If you want me to, I'll spell it correctly."
            Glad you went and nipped that in the bud. Imagine a cover letter from someone like that.

            Dear Mr. Simth,

            I am responding with interest to your advertisement for [position]. I am a recent graduate from Harvrad with a doctorate in genetics and have passed the Bra exam in order to practice patent law. I was attracted to your firm, Smiht & Josne, PLL because....
            Last edited by Dave1982; 07-27-2012, 03:57 PM. Reason: please do NOT quote the entire post! We just read it!

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            • #7
              Please tell me you were allowed to take points off for the typos! I know when we were taking basic skills, like resumes and business letters in high school, we had to get names, addresses and how to address people correct or it'd be deducted from our score. This was along side normal grammar and spelling!
              If I make no sense, I apologize. I'm constantly interrupted by an actual toddler.

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              • #8
                Here is what I often do on Facebook (as an example). If someone misspells my name, I politely correct them. If they do it again, in any response I have with them, I make a point of misspelling their name.

                For example, let's say I was talking to Mr. Fahrenheit. And he called me Jetzer. Even after I corrected him. I might start referring to him as Mr. Celsius, or perhaps Mr. Kelvin. Yes, I go over the top to make my point....are you really all that surprised by this?

                And yes, I have done this in real life, too.

                KEN: "Hey, Joker, what's up?"
                JESTER: "Not much, Kurt, what's up with you?"

                You get the point.

                As for what happened to your student, I am sure that life and business taught them really quickly that getting names right is often very important. Or, if they didn't learn that lesson, I am sure their job situation is not working out the way they had envisioned.

                "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is
                Still A Customer."

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                • #9
                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMe3WDmxBEI
                  "First time I ever seen a chainsaw go down anybody's britches,"

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                  • #10
                    I got an email from Blizzard customer support once where they'd spelled my first name wrong two different ways. I have a very common and not oddly-spelled name. There were also a bunch of other spelling and grammar errors in there.

                    I'm tempted to apply to Blizzard now. At least I can write a professional email.

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                    • #11
                      Quoth manybellsdown View Post
                      I got an email from Blizzard customer support once where they'd spelled my first name wrong two different ways. I have a very common and not oddly-spelled name. There were also a bunch of other spelling and grammar errors in there.

                      I'm tempted to apply to Blizzard now. At least I can write a professional email.
                      Not to fully derail but those are usually spam emails yeah.... The official stuff they do take care to check all spelling and such in to not be thought of as unprofessional.
                      Crono: sounds like the machine update became a clusterf*ck..
                      pedersen: No. A clusterf*ck involves at least one pleasurable thing (the orgasm at the end).

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                      • #12
                        Sadly, spelling in general has gone by the wayside in past years. Hubby actually has refused to send a resume to a couple of companies when job hunting, because the standards of grammar & spelling in their ad were so horrible, he can't imagine it doing his reputation any good to work there.

                        Hit a new low yesterday - I was going through some craft supplies I had accumulated, found a package of stickers designed to be used in making scrapbooks, ones made by a major, respected company. One of the nice little sayings on it had incorrectly used your instead of you're. Now we can show show off our lack of correct grammar to future generations in our keepsakes.

                        Madness takes it's toll....
                        Please have exact change ready.

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                        • #13
                          Quoth Merriweather View Post
                          Sadly, spelling in general has gone by the wayside in past years. Hubby actually has refused to send a resume to a couple of companies when job hunting, because the standards of grammar & spelling in their ad were so horrible, he can't imagine it doing his reputation any good to work there.

                          Hit a new low yesterday - I was going through some craft supplies I had accumulated, found a package of stickers designed to be used in making scrapbooks, ones made by a major, respected company. One of the nice little sayings on it had incorrectly used your instead of you're. Now we can show show off our lack of correct grammar to future generations in our keepsakes.
                          Well, to be fair, if he was responding to a newspaper ad, the mistakes could have been made by the adtaker. The advertiser might not have had an opportunity to proofread the ad.
                          When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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                          • #14
                            Quoth Merriweather View Post
                            Hit a new low yesterday - I was going through some craft supplies I had accumulated, found a package of stickers designed to be used in making scrapbooks, ones made by a major, respected company. One of the nice little sayings on it had incorrectly used your instead of you're. Now we can show show off our lack of correct grammar to future generations in our keepsakes.
                            The your/you're thing has got to be my biggest pet peeve on internet message boards (tied with apostrophes in plurals).

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                            • #15
                              Quoth Merriweather View Post
                              Hit a new low yesterday - I was going through some craft supplies I had accumulated, found a package of stickers designed to be used in making scrapbooks, ones made by a major, respected company. One of the nice little sayings on it had incorrectly used your instead of you're. Now we can show show off our lack of correct grammar to future generations in our keepsakes.
                              I'd be tempted to send the sticker back to the company, pasted on a piece of notebook paper with the error boldly pointed out and corrected in bright red. But that's just evil little me, of course...
                              I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
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