Tuesday, May 3, 2011

'T'ain't Whatcha Don't Know Gets Ya into Trouble...

...It's what ya know for certain but it ain't so.

This morning the doctor was trying to learn how to pronounce my last name. It doesn't much matter, as I answer to any version of it, including some nurse just staring at it with a look of dismay on her face. But this doctor was determined to get it right so I tried to help him.

After one mangled attempt, he asked, "Is that it?" and I said no.

"It's really easy," I said. "First, you just say 'Theodore' and then you add - "

"'idis'" he said, pronouncing it "EYE-diss".

"'EE-deez," I said.

"'Theodore - EYE-diss'," said the doctor; "I see." And he said it with such satisfaction I just left it there.

It's utterly unimportant, but it made me wonder and say to myself, "How many things, maybe important things, have you failed to learn just because you were so sure you already knew?"

6 comments:

Michelle M. said...

Good point!

Emily H. said...

Well, so long as he only gets your name wrong... Speaking of which I'm sure I've done so also! Forgive!

Anastasia Theodoridis said...

Emily, if you did, I wasn't aware of it and, as I said, it's utterly unimportant.

:-)

Michelle, last time I pulled up your blog, it did a huge number on mine, so I haven't dared recently. But I did see the post head that said your new boy had arrived, so many, many congratulations! And if you can get that bug removed somehow, let me know and I'll put your blog back on my sidebar!

love,
Anastasia

Sarah in Indiana said...

It's kind of funny that pronounced the doctor's way, your name sounds like a disease. One only affects people name Theodore, or perhaps is caused by people named Theodore, or else a disease that's a gift from God?

Anastasia Theodoridis said...

Do you know, I never thought of it that way, Sarah. It's perfectly natural for a physician to confuse it with the suffix -itis, as in tonsilitis, appendicitis, etc. !!

Anastasia Theodoridis said...

I once had a doctor whose pronunciation of my first name always came out, "Anesthesia" - for a similar reason, as I see now. Sarah, what a great insight!