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Help[Opinions] all that really matters ...
in reply to a message by Ninor
Is that it bothers you. You know what it means, and if it didn't bother you you wouldn't have to try and convince yourself it didn't bother you.
It would help to know what the name was. If it was a name whose roots in early English originally had that meaning but it has become just another name over the centuries, I would say it's much less of an issue than if it still means the same thing and hasn't been changed in spelling or pronunciation, and if ordinary, reasonably well-read/educated people would know the meaning.
Yes, there's plenty of guys named Dick, but you will notice that it's been very much out of favor for several generations. It's had its unsavory slang meaning for almost as long as it's been a nn for Richard, from what I have been able to tell, but for most of that time, decent people didn't let on that they knew it was a nasty slang term. But once they began acknowledging that other meaning, and it became less of a taboo to use bad language and talk about sex and bodily functions in mixed company, well, there's no going back and nobody can unknow what they already know.
English is so widely spoken even in non-English speaking countries and in so many different professional fields, and what with the Internet, it's more than likely that this English word is understood by people wherever you go. You are obviously well-educated and well-read and fluent in English, so frankly, you'd be likely to be thought otherwise or to have poor judgment when you did encounter someone who recognized the word/name.
Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you criticize him, you're a mile away and you have his shoes!
Steve Martin
It would help to know what the name was. If it was a name whose roots in early English originally had that meaning but it has become just another name over the centuries, I would say it's much less of an issue than if it still means the same thing and hasn't been changed in spelling or pronunciation, and if ordinary, reasonably well-read/educated people would know the meaning.
Yes, there's plenty of guys named Dick, but you will notice that it's been very much out of favor for several generations. It's had its unsavory slang meaning for almost as long as it's been a nn for Richard, from what I have been able to tell, but for most of that time, decent people didn't let on that they knew it was a nasty slang term. But once they began acknowledging that other meaning, and it became less of a taboo to use bad language and talk about sex and bodily functions in mixed company, well, there's no going back and nobody can unknow what they already know.
English is so widely spoken even in non-English speaking countries and in so many different professional fields, and what with the Internet, it's more than likely that this English word is understood by people wherever you go. You are obviously well-educated and well-read and fluent in English, so frankly, you'd be likely to be thought otherwise or to have poor judgment when you did encounter someone who recognized the word/name.
Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you criticize him, you're a mile away and you have his shoes!
Steve Martin
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