I was recently reminded of this phenomenon as I was reading something about Mad Men (yes, Mad Men again) on Slate (yes, Slate again):
But given who Draper is, my bet is that Sal's secret is safe, just as Peggy's was last season. And this commitment to double lives and discretion—indeed, the fact that their secret lives almost endear Peggy and Sal to Don—is part of what makes Draper (or D-Squared, as we call him at my house) the most mystifying, satisfying character currently on television.
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What's so fucking stupid about this is that squaring a quantity rarely results in that quantity being doubled (Squaring the number 2 is the only time it does). If you had two number 4's, for example, you wouldn't say "Four squared", you'd say "Four times two". So, saying "D-Squared" doesn't make any sense. If you wanted some pithy, quasi-clever nickname for someone with an alliterative name, you should say "Two-D" or whatever. Which is admittedly a stupid name, but at least it's coherent.
Am I the only one who's noticed this trend? I can't think of any other examples but I swear I hear it pretty often. Why why why?
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Probably you hear it a lot because you're in NYsquared. or NY to the NY. I feel you. Add to that the fact that saying D-squared or J-squared takes more effort than saying deedee or jayjay. Bottom line, letters and numbers don't and shouldn't mix. I can't relate to your passion here, but I support your cause.
ReplyDeleteI read this same article in Slate but I don't think I got much past thinking 'That's stupid' when I read the D-squared.
ReplyDeleteAs a person with an alliterative name, I appreciate your indignation on our behalf. I wonder why nobody ever calls me SS? Oh, that's right.
On a sort of related note, there's a columnist in the local paper who always refers to Federal Way as "The F-Dub" which is the most hopelessly out of touch, faux-ironic name for this shit patch of convenience stores and Korean massage parlors. I'd like him to retire that.
Also, wasn't my blog first on your blog roll for awhile? Was I downgraded or alphabetized?
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the solidarity, Cunado.
ReplyDeleteSam, maybe it's because you've already got so many other great nicknames (Sambo, Sambalaya, Samamish) that your initials are too boring to bother with. Although I do kind of like 'Double S'. Evokes the Impala.
And yeah, when I added that Bloglinks widget, it automatically alphabetized the list and I can't figure out how to rearrange the order. Preferably I'd put good old Quilt Enthusiast first, just because he's been my (unwitting) blog mentor (although maybe I should call him blog mentor emeritus).
Homage? Moscow? eh? If so, nice. If not... also nice. Does anyone know what I'm talking about here? I do.
ReplyDeleteHomage intentional. Since the beginning, I've striven to use my title graphic as a vehicle for puns on dog idioms. I soon exhausted all such idioms, so now I substitute 'blog' for 'dog' in just about any phrase I think someone will recognize.
ReplyDeleteThis is where 20 years of formal education got me.