steepholm: (Default)
[personal profile] steepholm
I came across this in the Wikipedia entry for Aleister Crowley, of all places. It's the reason he gave for changing his name from Alexander:

"I had read in some book or other that the most favourable name for becoming famous was one consisting of a dactyl followed by a spondee, as at the end of a hexameter: like 'Jeremy Taylor'."

Is there any truth in this? Presumably Daniel Handler thinks so.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-09-13 09:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shewhomust.livejournal.com
Well, it worked for William Shakespeare. And Christopher Marlowe, Mother Theresa, and (assuming the division between the feet doesn't have to coincide with the forename / surname break) Princess Diana and Nelson Mandela.

Margaret Thatcher.

Stop me now, please, somebody!

(no subject)

Date: 2007-09-13 11:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hafren.livejournal.com
But I would say that both Daniel and William were really pronounced as two-syllable words, not dactyls - that "i" is lost in a y-sound tacked on to the front of the next syllable, Dan-yel and Will-yam, not Dan-i-el and Will-i-am.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-09-13 11:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] steepholm.livejournal.com
This is true, but Daniel Handler publishes under the (otherwise unmemorable) name Lemony Snicket.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-09-13 02:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shewhomust.livejournal.com
I'd agree about Daniel, but not William; this may be a regional difference. I know a Scot who refers to her husband as Will-yum, and it's a noticeably different pronunciation to mine.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-09-13 01:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hafren.livejournal.com
See, the real trouble was, whatever he changed his name to, he was still a creepy poseur... you can't change anything that really matters.

not answering your question, but,

Date: 2007-09-13 07:31 pm (UTC)
jadelennox: Sleepy cat (c-cat)
From: [personal profile] jadelennox
*points to icon*

Yes spelled diffently. Oh well.

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