Say Ah!

It’s my weakness, my nemesis, the bane of my existence; The pronunciation of my name. My parents blessed me with a name that is not said as it appears, which obviously causes a problem when meeting someone for the first time.

“Hi, I’m Andrea”

“Nice to meet you Ayndreea.”

“No, it’s Ahhhndrea”

“Oh, sorry. See you soon Ahndrayah.”

Bah.

After college, I decided to change the spelling of my name so I could be separated from the other ensemble wanna-be’s with the same name, so I added a ‘u’ to aid in the task of saying my name. Sure as shootin’, my very first professional audition, bingo! The young lady called out my name and I was singing my three and a half bars of ‘Heat Wave’. Just as quickly I heard “Thank you!” and the rest is history. (Needless to say, the Toronto production of Hairspray managed to go on without me.) Also, now that I’m married, my surname Ferrett is somewhat easier then the Czech concoction I proudly carried with me. The extra t sometimes throws people for a loop, but it hasn’t been too rough.

Recently, my first name has created some controversy amongst some people on the ship. To aid said person, we agreed that I would write out my name phonetically, and then after repeating it to him approximately 46 times, all would be right with the world. Apparently this was not the right move in the game that was my name, and said person was offended that I would do this. I now had an issue of miscommunication on my hands. Apparently after being called the wrong name over a dozen times didn’t warrant correction, and the offence I took to being called the wrong name was not valid. (In the words of Homer Simpson, “In case you can’t tell I’m being sarcastic”.)

I used to not like my name when I was little, but upon meeting a cashier with the same name at a grocery store with my Mom, she reminded me how special we were, and that so few people had the honour of having their name said differently then the typical Andrea.

I am proud of my name, and all of the nicknames that have come from it. (Thanks to Ioana for the famous Aunds/Aunnie in college.) And for those of you who after this many years still can’t pronounce my name properly, shame on you. We have all managed to let Governer Schwarzenegger's name roll of our tongues, so surely my name is the next to be conquered. Until then, I will continue to repeat my name as often as possible, and endure the several hundred variations of pronunciations that have come up over the years.

When in doubt, I will always answer to Dame Ferrett of London.

No, London, Ontario. 

Will the confusion ever end??