that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

{ August 22, 2010 @ 15:21 } · { random, schmandom, schrandom. }

anyhoo.

now, i’d like to talk to you about my name. as we all know, it’s spelled as CLARYN.

i grew up learning my name as CLARE-REEN. right or wrong, it’s what i’ve learnt to know and love. most of my family members and BFFs fondly call me CLARE. as for others, they call me CLARE-REEN or, as soon as they’d realize that it can be shortened to CLARE, they’d call me that instead. no wait, it’d be spelled as CLAIRE. well, there isn’t really an “I” you can derive from my name, so i’d leave it as CLARE.

when i went to college, i met more people outside my neighbourhood circle (in terms of sharing the same accent), and learnt that some people may naturally address me as CLUH-REEN. but similarly, they’d call me CLARE, or CLAIRE, as soon as we got close enough.

when i went for my one-year stint in the land down under, i tried to introduce myself as CLARE from the start, but as soon as they found out that my name was CLARYN, they immediately started calling me CLAR’N. if that spelling makes sense. then after half a year, my sister came over to visit and ended up staying for almost two months. seeing that my sister went almost everywhere i went, most of my friends got to know her too, and soon enough, they’d call me CLARE too.

now, back here, no one calls me CLAR’N anymore. most address me as CLARE, or CLAIRE, but quite seldom the latter. there’re still people calling me CLUH-REEN. i do try to introduce myself as CLAR’N most of the time, in hopes that most people will realize that it can indeed be shortened to CLARE. well, people would be more inclined to notice the “CLARE” in “CLAR’N” rather than “CLUH-REEN”, right? and besides, “CLAR’N” is kinda..cool, i suppose. makes me feel like a classy, independent, empowered woman, for some reason. heh.

okay, so yeah, i prefer CLARE or CLAR’N to CLUH-REEN. but to be honest, i’m really sincerely okay with that pronunciation, especially if you’re more comfortable with it, and i’d definitely answer to it. but omg, there are some people……despite me introducing myself as CLAR’N, or CLARE, or even if one of my BFFs conspicuously address me as CLARE in front of said some people, they still call me CLUH-REEN confidently and worst of all, arrogantly! i mean, sweetie, it’s my name, so despite whatever pronunciation you think is right for its spelling, i get to decide what my name’s supposed to sound like! you really shouldn’t try to CORRECT ME when i spell my name out for you after you can’t seem to catch it when i introduce myself to you. okay if the previous sentence didn’t make sense, think:

hi! i’m claryn.

hi carrie! i’m blabla.

claryn.

caryn?

claryn.

clarie?

claryn.

clarese.

CLARYN.

how do you spell that?

C-L-A-R-Y-N.

oh but shouldn’t it be cluh-reen!

……hi.

_____________________

but point is, i suspect that American English would hold CLARYN as CLUH-REEN, while British English would result in CLAR’N. whichever the case, whichever correct, i do prefer CLAR’N to CLUH-REEN. hence why i introduce myself as that these days. or CLARE-REEN, but a lot less often, and it feels almost nostalgic, sometimes. don’t know if that’s a good thing.

in a (ridiculously trivial) nutshell, call me CLARE (without the “I”).

g’day, world!

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