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Help[Opinions] Re: Merry
in reply to a message by Amandine
It works, yeah - not well. Better than Happy works, but not as well as Joy works. It works mainly because of sounding so much like Mary.
Merry sounds pretty much the same in my accent as Mary, but the vowel's a tiny bit shorter and weaker ... a difference is probably not detectable but I "feel" I'm saying it differently.
I'd pick Holly. I like the sound of Merry but not that it's a word.
I think Merrily is bad, because it's an adverb. Kirrily, Romilly, Beverly, Cecily, Kimberly don't sound like adverbs. But Everly and Amberly do, and Merrily actually is one... way too wordy. Also evokes rowing your boat gently down the stream. Merrilee or Merelie seems nicer to me by far. Even Merraly would be better than Merrily.
If I wanted Merry I'd use Mary or spell it Meri, to get away from the word. The word merry, in my mind, slightly alludes to drunkenness or silliness ... merrymaking, merriment are partying and laughter. So it doesn't just connote joy, it's more akin to mirth ... like something you deliberately choose to "make" rather than it being a blessing. It lacks the reverence of Holly, Grace, and Joy. That doesn't make it bad, but I just feel differently about the word as a name.
- mirfak
Merry sounds pretty much the same in my accent as Mary, but the vowel's a tiny bit shorter and weaker ... a difference is probably not detectable but I "feel" I'm saying it differently.
I'd pick Holly. I like the sound of Merry but not that it's a word.
I think Merrily is bad, because it's an adverb. Kirrily, Romilly, Beverly, Cecily, Kimberly don't sound like adverbs. But Everly and Amberly do, and Merrily actually is one... way too wordy. Also evokes rowing your boat gently down the stream. Merrilee or Merelie seems nicer to me by far. Even Merraly would be better than Merrily.
If I wanted Merry I'd use Mary or spell it Meri, to get away from the word. The word merry, in my mind, slightly alludes to drunkenness or silliness ... merrymaking, merriment are partying and laughter. So it doesn't just connote joy, it's more akin to mirth ... like something you deliberately choose to "make" rather than it being a blessing. It lacks the reverence of Holly, Grace, and Joy. That doesn't make it bad, but I just feel differently about the word as a name.
- mirfak
This message was edited 11/26/2023, 2:45 PM
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