BITS& PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: ON NAMES &NAMING

ON NAMING METEORITES THAT HAVE FALLEN TO EARTH

…the convention is that meteorites bear the name of the nearest

post office to the site of the largest recovered piece.

Chris Lintott. “Flying Pancake From Space” in London Review

of Books (3 June 2021)

ON THE FISH NAMED JOHN DORY

"The only interest of this creature in a work 
like the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable is the 
tradition that it was the fish from which St. 
Peter took the stater*. Hence it is called in 
French le poisson de St. Peter, and in Gascon, 
the golden or sacred cock, meaning St. Peter's 
cock. Like the haddock, it has a remarkable oval 
black spot on each side, said to be the finger-marks 
of St. Peter, when he held the fish to extract 
the coin. As neither the haddock nor dory can 
live in fresh water, of course this tradition 
is only an idle tale."

E. Corhham Brewer. the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (New york:
Avenel Books,1928).

* King James Bible
Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, 
go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and 
take up the fish that first cometh up; and 
when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt 
find a piece of money: that take, and give 
unto them for me and thee.
**

SENIOR EDITORS AT NEWSWEEK in the 1960s 
& THE FLYING WALLANDERS

"The most senior editors were called the Wallendas,
after the Flying Wallanders, a circus high wire act
that defied both gravity and death but cheated by
doing it sober. Newsweek's editors, in contrast,
pulled off their weekly high-wire act with an 
occasional snort.'

Richard Cohen. She Made Me Laugh: My Friend 
Nora Ephron.New York: Simon & Schuster,2016) 

THE NAMES OF HILLS IN THE BARKLEY MARATHON

The tough hills have names like Rat Jaw, Little
Hell, Big Hell, Testicle Spectacle -- this last
so-called because it inspires most runners to
make the sign of the cross (crotch to sunglasses,
then shoulder to shoulder) -- not to mention
Stallion Mountain, Bird Mountain, Coffin Springs,
Zipline,and an uphill stretch, new this year,
known simply as 'The Bad Thing.'

Leslie Jamison. The Empathy Exams (Minneapolis: 
Graywolf Press, 2004).

NAMES OF DAUGHTERS OF SAMUEL BLISS

Samuel Bliss named his four daughters
Desire, Thankful, Freelove, and Mindful

'A Note For Expectant Parents" in 
American Heritage (February1965)

"We heard of a family in Detroit whose
sons were named One Stickney, Two Stickney,
Three Stickney, and whose daughters were
named Firsr Stickney, and so on. The three
elder children of another family were named
Joseph, And, and Another."

"Postscripts to History" in American
Heritage (October 1965)

**
THE NAME USED BY FILM DIRECTORS WHEN THEY
WANT THEIR REAL NAMES REMOVED FROM MOVIES
THEY DIRECTED

Q&A"s dialogue "is rife with racial epithets
--accepted station house banter. Largely
because of this language, the film was heavily
edited for broadcast television; it was so
cut up in fact, that Sidney wanted his name
off it, replacing it with the conventional
'directed by Alan Smithee,' the common
pseudonym for directors whose work is altered
or recut against their wishes."

Maura Spiegel.Sidney Lumet: A Life (New York:
St.Martin's Press, 2019)

ON NOT REMEMBERING NAMES AT THE WALDORF

"When I started bellmen were called boys,
but that's not OK any more. Also we had
to call all guests "Madame" and 'Sir,'
even if we knew their names. You know
why? Because if a guest came in with
their spouse and we already knew their
names, the spouses would get suspicious
as to why they'd been here already.

Jimmy Elidrissi,74, Bellhop at the
Waldorf for 5 Decades (obit in the
New York Times (July 28, 2021)