(no subject)

[chelseagirl]

Thanks to menikoff for the fab icon, which she kindly let me appropriate.

US/UK language divide part 376. M.'s been talking, naturally, about his new bosses, Sean and Ewan. Yesterday it turned out that he's constitutionally incapable of pronouncing the latter's name correctly. Evan.

I'd kinda wondered; there aren't a whole lot of "Ewans" this side of the pond.

He's next off from work Thursday/Friday at which point we are going to sit down and pinpoint the dates of our trip to England in August. Since he hasn't been home in three years, we're doing a week of M's friends/family/stuff he wants to buy/places he wants to eat/going through boxes still stored at his parents'. Then I'm going to stay on for another five days or week, spend time in London, visit silme and luis_mw, and see stuff like the tourist I bloody well am. What's on at the Globe in late August, I wonder?

Comments

[mortalwombat731.livejournal.com]

Now I'm wondering: is "Ewan" "Evan"? I always sort of assumed it was "Ian," spelled for real or something. Hmm.

My Irish teacher during my MA couldn't say Leah to save his life, so I let him get away with acalling me Leia, as in Princess. No idea how that worked.

Ooh, London...

[silme.livejournal.com]

I just found a link for more information than we'd ever want to know about Ian, Evan and Ewan. The sad thing is that a friend of mine is friends with the guy who wrote the website.
http://www.medievalscotland.org/problem/names/iain.shtml

I am married to an Ian in England. He claims his mother gave him the name because it's impossible to create a nick-name out of it. Heh. ;)

[mortalwombat731.livejournal.com]

So, Eoin is Ian, and Ian is John. Wow, I was really really wrong.

(I, by the way, found that link fascinating, and exactly the right amount of info, but I am a geek.)

[silme.livejournal.com]

I love name research; I am crazy and a geek. :)

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Of course I'm persnickety enough to notice that Leia was pronounced Leah in the first film and then magically transformed into Lay-ah afterwards. I wonder if that was her Alderaani princess equivalent of, say, when a junior high schooler named Cindy suddenly transforms herself into Syndi or something. ;-)

[mortalwombat731.livejournal.com]

Oh, I too am that persnickety, but it allows me to state (to my friend Arwen actually) that I have had an action figure since I was six, but that they spelled my name wrong.

[kfitzwarin.livejournal.com]

Survey says some combo of Pericles, Winter's Tale, The Tempest and The Storm (Plautus) - the theme is World & Underworld.

Unfortunately several of the cooler museums are in the midst of refurbishing (the V&A for one) but if you want tips, give a holler.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Too bad -- last time I hit the V&A was in the *eep* late 80s. But there's still the British Museum (which I never quite make it to) and the Tate and Tate Modern.

I want to see the Tempest because I teach it every year but really anything there is a treat!

[silme.livejournal.com]

Uh oh, I didn't think he was anti-Welsh. ;)

http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/navigation/framesetNS.htm will give you the timetable. August choices of Shakespeare are Tempest (with Mark Rylance in his swan song as Prospero -- he's departing as the Globe's artistic director), Pericles or Winter's Tale. The main non-Shakespeare choices are new plays -- The Storm (after Plautus) by Peter Oswald.

When you know your dates, let me know and I'll book tickets. I'll try to get seats this time, but if the reviews are good, the seats go very quickly. I've not seen Pericles in years, I've seen Winter's Tale at the Globe (back in '98 -- an odd production of it -- the bear actually was more of a polar bear, Hermione in a long, white dress with white make-up and LONG white fingernails...) and I wouldn't mind seeing Rylance as Prospero, so I'd be up for any of them. The version of Tempest this year is kind of avante-garde -- three actors in the entire play, apparently. Dancers and music too. Hmmm. Corin Redgrave is in Pericles.

And I know you want a trip to Bath and Lacock, both of which are doable. And Glastonbury? :)

I get to London so rarely these days. Must save money from the July pay. :)

[silme.livejournal.com]

Nah, he can't be anti-Welsh since Ewan's also Welsh. (That's what the husband who went to uni in Wales tells me. ;)

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Fascinating how differently people can see things. Anti-welsh would have never *ever* occurred to me. Though I know people of Welsh extraction whose last name is Evans, I was plain and simply seeing "Evan" as the Americanized version. I've grown up with guys named Evan, but never met a Ewan who was born here.

[silme.livejournal.com]

Oh, anti-Welsh is a big joke around here. There are lots of Welsh jokes. A couple of years ago, Ann Robinson got in trouble for making fun of a Welshman on The Weakest Link. It seems to be a sport. I have students who will make anti-Welsh jokes, and I try to discourage it.

On the other hand, the Welsh can be very anti-English as well. Ian has told me about the 'come home to a roaring fire in Wales' comments -- directed at English people who bought second homes in Wales. The roaring fire was when the Sons of Glendower and other such groups would burn down said English second homes in Wales.

Sad, stupid stuff on both sides.

I was just checking something on-line, and Evan is in the top 100 boys' names now in Scotland. Who knows? Ian was just telling me about how it used to said that so many people in Wales were either Evans or Jones in terms of surnames. 'There's Evans the Butcher and Evans the Collier and...'

The popular name for boys that took me by surprise (in terms of numbers of students) over here was Alisdair, all nicknamed Ali. What scares me is that one of the most common boys' name in 2003 was Alfie -- probably after Alfie Moon on Eastenders. Oh dear. And one of my students, a boy named Fraser, had to remind me that it's a soft 's', not a 'z' like the TV character. :) He's of Scots origins. :)

[silme.livejournal.com]

Oh, or Alister, nicknamed Ali. I used Alisdair because I marked an essay tonight written by an Alisdair. :)

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

The guy who was M's best man, is an Alister who often signs himself Ali, as well. I suppose it's pronounced "Alley?" and not Ali, as in Muhammad? I always avoided calling him that!

[silme.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's pronounced Alley. :)

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Went right over my head. :-) (Welsh jokes or anti-welsh anything.)

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I'd prefer Tempest just because I teach it and will be teaching it again next year; otherwise all things being equal I think I'd prefer Pericles, which I've never seen, over Winter's Tale, which I have. I guess we'll have to see what works with our dates.

Bath and Lacock yes, and Glastonbury again, very much. Last time we had to rush back up and didn't get to spend nearly enough time. I want to go to the Tor and all that. M. wants me to get more of those beautiful handpainted glasses at Avebury, but I told him he might be pushing his luck. ;-) (We used them as sherry glasses for Easter dinner and he quite fancied them.)

The weird thing is London is the one place I don't have anyone to stay with. M.s brother is in the outskirts but he's very shy; M. suggested I spend a night or two at Alister's or Karen and Stuart's (both a good two hours outside of London but a lot closer than his parents are now) for back and forthing to London before heading down to you guys.

[silme.livejournal.com]

We're about 1 1/2 hours from London by train -- two hours once you walk/take the tube to where you want to go from Waterloo. Ian and I get discounts on our train tickets (I have a Netrail pass), but I don't think I can use it for you. Let me check the conditions on it. (Let me find it first. :) It's about two hours to drive to Richmond and take the tube in from there. Where are the others located that they're two hours away? I thought Alister was in Surrey.

I've seen those glasses at Glastonbury as well -- with the chalice well symbol painted on them at the Chalice Well Gardens. And with pentacles in shops in the town, but I know you don't really want those. I haven't been to Avebury in a bit, so I don't know if they still carry them. Avebury and Lacock are doable in a day -- easy. We'd probably want to reserve a day each for Glastonbury and Bath, unless we want to get up very early, which is possible. I'm on holiday, so I don't mind. :) I have done Glastonbury and Bath in one day, without leaving too early, but I went to Glastonbury to run specific shopping errands, then I was back on the road to Bath.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Alister is in . . . I'm blanking on the name of the town. It's in Herts., but close to Cambridge. Karen and Stuart are in Hitchin, which I'm not sure if it's Herts. or Cambs. I think Alister's mum might live in Surrey, though.
Well, I know she lives near Stratford and I know that my UK geography is extremely limited. ;-)

Hey, if you can devote all those days and day-trips to me, I am very pleased!

[silme.livejournal.com]

Stratford as in on-Avon? Warwickshire. :) Stratford as in E15 London?

Ian thinks you could use my discount as long as I'm with you. My card costs 20 pounds a year, but the discount is good. Right now, it's almost 30 pounds return with travelcard (tube card) from Brockenhurst (our station) to Waterloo. With the discount, it's only 19 pounds. If you don't want to hang out with me, I can go and run various errands in London. Or we can hang out. That's if you wind up staying with us and want to go into London. Or, there's driving to Richmond and parking there.

Hitchin, I think, is in Herts.

I won't be working then... :)

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Stratford as in Shakespeare. Thus, on Avon, yes?

I think Hitchin is in Herts and so is Royston, where Alister lives. (See, everything comes back to me eventually.) The silly thing is my brother-in-law lives in the outskirts of London, so the ideal thing would be to stay with *him* for a night or two between Norfolk and you guys, but he's very shy and M. isn't sure he'd be comfortable with that.

I'm delighted to spend as much time with you guys as you're willing to have me for, but I didn't want to just assume I could come camp out for a week or something. ;-)

[silme.livejournal.com]

Oh, heck, camp out. You'll get the room where I am right now. Same futon as last time, different room. Broadband available 24/7. :)

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Yay! (Less to the broadband and more to the hanging with you guys.)

[silme.livejournal.com]

Yes, on Avon is Shakespeare's Stratford. Warwickshire. :) And yes, Royston's in Herts.

I'm getting to know my around; it helps that I tend to drive a lot of places either with Ian or on my own. I've driven up towards Cambridge way several times in the past couple of years, sometimes using the M25 route, other times avoiding it completely and driving on back roads. I was supposed to be up by Ely this past weekend; I'll have to get up there soon.

[silme.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I'm open to any of the plays, so we'll see what's on when.

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

Sounds good!