Have you noticed in BotP that "authority" figures never do get given first names?

Chief Anderson
Colonel Cronus
President Kane

And many others who appear only once!

As for his name - love Bubba!! It sort of ties in with the other discussion thread about Anderson's background too.

Perhaps it's something totally embarrasing like Cyril or Algernon...

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"When I'm old, I don't want them to say of me, "She's so charming." I want them to say, "Be careful, I think she's armed." -G. Stoddart

Andrew

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Perspective Alters Reality

I've seen "David" crop up several times...it seems to fit...

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There is no problem that cannot be solved with time, patience, and a judicious amount of high explosives.

quote:

Originally posted by Ladygalactor777 Ain't his name is Kozaburo Nambu?

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I think I have noticed John crop up as well, although maybe not as often as David.

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Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

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Okay, I bite? Am I the only one here who feels I am missing out on something? Or am I the only one who is not getting the "joke"?

Maybe it is a "Canadian" thing.

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Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

There's a trend towards naming children with the diminutives of proper names. So far, in Georgia, this seems to be prevalent among African-Americans, so there are grown men whose names are Willy and Tommy. (My sample is small, admittedly, but it's there.)

In 1978, it was still possible to hear adults refer to each other by Title + Surname. For BotP, the scriptwriters might not have considered it necessary to give the 'adult' characters first names. Unlike the live-action shows kids watched, there are no personal moments to hang first names on.

So far, in the fics, nobody's saddled Anderson with a really embarrassing first name. I went with 'Peter' in mine because I hadn't seen it used. For the IF, when nobody could remember if they'd given him a first name, I thought of 'Matthew' (which then made a perfectly good middle name when someone found 'John').

BTW, his accent is all wrong for 'Bubba.' Trust me. Springie can confirm: you know you're in the South when campaign posters not only use the name 'Bubba', it's not always in quotation marks.

In New England and parts of the South, a child might be given the mother's maiden name as a given name. (I think, in the South, that's more an upper-class custom. However, since I am not native, I will not swear to it.) This can work very well, or produce oddities.

Some names are perfectly good, but have gotten 'nerd' or 'sissy' connotations over time. Percival was a knight of the Round Table, and in some stories, the one who found the Grail. Roger is derived from Hrothgar. Edgar, Edward, and Edwin are all Anglo-Saxon names with warrior origins. I'm pretty sure that 'Gaylord' is not as sissy in origin as it sounds.

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Benefits, not features; benefits, not features

UW, that practice of diminutives has been around for awhile in my opinion.

I had an aunt who refused to name her children with long winded names that would only be used in formality or when in trouble. Instead of Kimberly, the girl was Kim (though she was often called Kimmy), and instead of Kathleen or Kathrine, the younger girl was Kathy.

Some cultures aren't bothered by the e sound at the end of names, Hispanic is one I know of for certain. I think African-American is similar, but my experience with that ethnic group is limited.

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Perspective Alters Reality