Is it Wagner or Vagner?
Never admitting to being a TV pundit or a great fan of Saturday night television, what is going on with the nation? In keeping Wagner Carrilho in the X Factor.
What makes Wagner stand out? Is it that he is different? – not like the other contestants.
He stands out from the rest, he sounds and looks different. Is it that the majority of the audience can relate to him as the outsider the British do like an under-dog?
When you watch him, how does he make you feel? – do you find throughout his performance that you can’t stop smiling? – with his unique style, accent and approach in addition to his far-from normal stage presence?
It’s interesting that the judges on the X Factor tend to get his name wrong. Is this part of the image they are creating for him? If he had a common name – would you be able to recall the story of his performance among friends you may end-up describing him as ‘the old guy with the golden hair you know the one with the strong accent ?’
I think it’s a clever trick, possibly intentional – considering Simon Cowell is the man behind it all. Playing on his name, making sure everyone has a label for the entertainment he provides.
With my name, I remember in the past in introducing myself and hearing ‘J what, sorry?‘ and hearing myself saying ‘Jawaid think of lemonade and you’ll get Jawaid – pronounced Ju-wade’. Although – I don’t bother anymore. A group of ‘cor blimey’ friends of mine used to think my surname was ‘Ed’, with my first name being ‘Joe’ – this went on for years, I never had the heart to tell them – it was easier to just carry on.
Reflecting over unusual names and words such as Ocado, Tweeting, Bebo, Flickr, Raptr, Zoopla and fiverr. I realise there is an art behind deciding on a name – if targeted incorrectly, you may lose the meaning. Ocado was always a difficult one to remember and found myself calling it ‘the Waitrose delivery service, like the Tescos‘.
A lot of other words that have no meaning until used to describe something new have surfaced. Imagine you created a new product or service – would you develop a name that exists in the Oxford English Dictionary (EOD) or would you just make one up and provide some history behind the name?
Here are a few that have made it into the EOD:
Screenager – n. A person in their teens or twenties who has an aptitude for computers and the Internet.
Cyberslacking – v. Spending one’s employer’s Internet and email facilities for personal activities during working hours.
Lookism – n. Prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of appearance.
Ego-surfing – v. Searching the Internet for instances of one’s own name or links to one’s own website.
Meatspace – n. The physical world, as opposed to virtual.
Tweetup v. a meeting arranged through Twitter.
viral – v. relating to or involving the rapid spread of information about a product or service by viral marketing techniques.
Vuvuzela – n. a long horn blown by fans at soccer matches in South Africa)
chillax – v. to chill or calm down and relax
quantitative easing – v. meaning when the central bank introduces new money into the financial system
So, I guess if you have time out from ego-surfing while cyberslacking during this time of quantitative easing, I suggest you chillax, get a baby-sitter to look after your screenagers we could organise a meetspace for a coffee, if not we could just organise a tweetup?
But remember to please leave your vuvuzela at home as we decide – Does Vagner sound better than Wagner?
Photo credit: Leo Reynolds / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA