Sunday, September 14, 2008

Craig, like the List

I frequently fail to enunciate my consonants clearly. The names Craig and Greg too often rhyme in American pronunciation even though phonetically they shouldn't. These two facts have led to my being asked too often whether my name is Craig or Greg after introducing myself. I innovated a simple solution for this problem about a half-year ago by introducing myself as "Craig, like the List." As far as I know, there's still no Greg's List.

Overall this tactic works well. People usually laugh, and never do they need to ask for clarification. Sometimes I get asked whether I'm The Craig. I wish I were, or at least I wish I had his beautifully no-frills, profitable site. It's clear from responses to introducing myself that Craig's List is a well known and nearly unanimously appreciated site.

The funniest response I've received thus far to my introduction was when playing ultimate Frisbee. I used my then-new "Craig, like the List" introduction, and the other guy, whose actual name I don't think I ever learned, responded by calling himself Ebay. What made this funny is that that the Ebay name stuck. I showed up a month later to play with the same group and all the players were still calling him Ebay.

So far I haven't met any Googles or Amazons, but I have met a few Yahoos.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I still get confused when it comes to saying that New York Yankees 3rd baseman's name. Do you know who I'm talking about? He was a 6 time All-Star and won 2 World Series and 2 gold gloves. He also spent time with the Twins, Indians, Pads, Braves, and Expos. Got it?!?!?! Graig Nettles. That's right! You pronounce it like Greg ... but you spell it like Craig. That's some mean ass parenting in my book!!