Sunday, February 1, 2015

What's in a name?

Juliet presents a fascinating idea, claiming, "that which we call a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet."
This might be obvious, but names are words, and words carry meaning.  When one says "elephant," there isn't anything that comes to mind that isn't a big gray (grey) mammal with large ears, tusks, and a trunk.

There's why names (words) are useful: they are small representations of larger concepts.  Jesus is a name.  There's a lot of meaning behind that.

Regarding people I know, names provide history.  When I hear someone's name, I see their face and remember something they've said or done.  The name is just a sound or word; much more comes to mind when I hear the name of a friend.

To answer Juliet's comment, if a rose was called an elephant, then elephants would smell as sweet (depending on who you ask).  But calling a Capulet a fish doesn't change the family's rivalry.  Romeo was born into a name and a family tradition (albeit a seemingly pointless one).

I'm thinking about names because I don't have one yet.  Everyone else in this blog challenge has been recognized with a cool nickname, yet I'm left without.  Until our brilliant leader dubs me worthy of some lofty title from the 90s, I cannot claim equal footing with my blog challenge peers.  Though this post is happening (I'm still in this) there's not much meaning without a name.

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