102-part 06 - 六人行

這段有講到名字,

那就來聊聊美國人的名字吧!

※ 引述《samchiu (閒祭秋)》之銘言：
: 102 The One With the Sonogram at the End - PART 06
: [Scene: Carol's OB/GYN, they're still arguing about
: what to name the baby.]
: Susan: Oh, please! What's wrong with Helen?
: Ross: Helen Geller? I don't think so.
: Carol: Hello? It's not gonna be Helen Geller.
: Ross: Thank you!
: Carol: No, I mean it's not Geller.
: Ross: What, it's gonna be Helen Willick?
: Carol: No, actually, um, we talked about Helen Willick-Bunch.

美國在姓氏上的彈性很大,

像Susan跟Carol這樣把"父母"兩人的姓都掛在小孩名字後面並不罕見.

此外美國女生婚後流行改夫姓,就是把娘家姓摘掉改成夫家姓,

小女生會很愛玩"你男友姓什麼"的遊戲,

如果男友的姓很好笑,比方說Bing,

或者男生的姓跟女生的名字組起來會有諧音,

比方說如果叫Helen的女生真的跟姓Geller的人交往,

就會被取笑.

不過隨著時代變遷,女性進入職場的比例越來越高,

有很多女生為了鞏固自己在專業領域的名聲,

會選擇婚後不改姓,繼續使用娘家的姓,

或者是冠夫姓變成複姓,也就是像Willick-Bunch這樣用破折號連在一起.

我有遇過一位女教授是用複姓,但她的複姓一個是前夫的一個是現任丈夫的.

也有女生是結幾次婚就換幾次姓,

這也就是為什麼很多美國銀行的保密問題都是要你填母親的"maiden name",

也就是母親的娘家姓.

因為女生的姓氏會變動的機率很大,外人也較不容易得知.

Monica跟Phoebe在婚後都曾有跟改夫姓有關的劇情,

因為對現代女生來說,改夫姓已經不是唯一的選擇,

再來就是因為英文的祖父母與外祖父母都是Grandfather/Grandmother,

所以美國人會用姓氏來分辨,

比方說姓Smith的男生娶了姓Johnson的女生,

他們的小孩就會用Grandfather Smith/Grandfather Johnson來向外人解釋祖父與外祖父.

基本上女性在婚後改夫姓還是比較"正統"的作法,

希拉蕊其實婚後沒有改夫姓也沒冠夫姓,而是繼續使用娘家的姓Rodham,

理由就是希望可以跟老公柯林頓在專業領域上作分別,

可是在柯林頓參選阿肯色州長期間,

希拉蕊為了顧及柯林頓的形象鞏固票倉,還是冠了夫姓.


有仔細看Friends的人應該都有學到美國有middle name這種東西,

排列組合就是 First Name Middle Name Last Name.

Friends六個角色的全名如下:

Chandler Muriel Bing
Joey Francis Tribbiani
Ross Eustace Geller
Monica E?(只知開頭是E) Geller/後改夫姓為Bing
Phoebe ? Buffay/後改夫姓為Hannigan
Rachel Karen Green

Phoebe的middle name一直沒有被公布,

她自己是有取過Princess Consuela Banana Hammock,

這樣的話middle name也許可以說是Conuela?

但這不是真正有被使用的名字所以我是傾向不算數啦.

middle name通常都是取自聖經,

或者是對家族很有意義的人物,比方說很重要的恩人/朋友之類,

或者是直接使用父母親or祖父母等長輩的名字.

在正式文件上才會使用到,比方說出生證明/結婚證書等等,

平常就是用縮寫(開頭第一個字母)代表,或者直接省略不用.

也有人覺得自己的middle name比first name好聽,

平日就省略first name直接用middle name.

我有個同學叫Mary Margaret Smith,

她覺得Mary實在太菜市場了(其實她從名到姓都非常菜市場....),

所以她要大家叫她Maggie,也就是Margaret的暱稱.

說到英文名字的暱稱(short form/short name/nickname),那可以另外發一篇專文討論,

對我們這些非英文母語的人來說,

那些暱稱系統真的很錯綜複雜,

很多時候還跟德/法/希臘文/拉丁文等等有關連,

沒有這些背景就很難搞清楚為什麼.

其實Friends裡就有暱稱,Joey就是Joseph的暱稱,

偶爾大家也會叫他"Joe".

這個至少看得出連結性,

但我最近才學到除了Will以外,Bill也是William的暱稱,

這我就完全不知道為什麼了.....

Firends還用過的另一個暱稱是Bobby.

第三季Ross跟Dr.Green不和那集,

最後讓他們破冰的就是Rachel脊椎按摩師的名字"Robert Bobby",

因為用暱稱的話這個按摩師的名字可以變成"Bobby Bobby"

Robert是個暱稱超多的名字--Bob/Bobby/Bert/Rob/Robb/Robby/Robbie...族繁不及備載.

: Ross: Well, wait a minute, wha- why is she in the title?
: Susan: It's my baby too.
: Ross: Oh, 's'funny, really?
: Um, I don't remember you making any sperm.
: Susan: Yeah, and we all know what a challenge that is!
: Carol: All right, you two, stop it!
: Ross: No no no, she gets a credit, hey, I'm in there too.
: Carol: Ross. You're not actually suggesting
: Helen Willick-Bunch-Geller?
: 'Cause I think that borders on child abuse.
: Ross: Of course not, I'm... suggesting Geller-Willick-Bunch.
: Susan: Oh, no, nonononono, you see what he's doing?
: He knows no-one's gonna say all those names,
: so they'll wind up calling her Geller,
: then he gets his way!
: Ross: My way?! You-you think this is my way?
: Believe me, of all the ways I ever imagined
: this moment in my life being,
: this is not my way- y'know what?
: Uh, um, this is too hard. I'm not, I can't do-
: Dr. Oberman: (entering) Knock knock!
: How are we today? Any nausea?
: All: Yeah. Yeah. A little.
: Dr. Oberman: Well, I was just wondering about the mother-to-be,
: but.. thanks for sharing.
: (To Carol) Uh, lie back..
: Ross: You- uh- y'know what, I'm gonna go.
: I don't- I don't think I can be involved
: in this particular thing right now.
: (He turns to go, but the sound of the sonogram catches hes ear.
: He returns and stares at it.)
: Ross: Oh my God.
: Susan: Look at that.
: Carol: I know.
: Closing Credits
: [Scene: Monica and Rachel's apartment,
: everyone is watching the tape of the sonogram.
: Rachel is on the phone.]
: Ross: Well? Isn't that amazing?
: Joey: What are we supposed to be seeing here?
: Chandler: I dunno, but..
: I think it's about to attack the Enterprise.
: Phoebe: You know, if you tilt your head to the left,
: and relax your eyes, it kinda looks like an old potato.
: Ross: Then don't do that, alright?
: Phoebe: Okay!
: Ross: (walks over to where Monica is standing)
: Monica. Whaddya think?
: Monica: (welling up) Mm-hmm.
: Ross: Wh- are you welling up?
: Monica: No.
: Ross: You are, you're welling up.
: Monica: Am not!
: Ross: You're gonna be an aunt.
: Monica: (pushes him and starts to cry) Oh shut up!
: Rachel: (on phone) Hi, Mindy. Hi, it-it's Rachel.
: Yeah, I'm fine. I-I saw Barry today.
: Oh, yeah, yeah he-he told me.
: No, no, it's okay. I hope you two are very happy,
: I really do. Oh, oh, and Mind, y'know,
: if-if everything works out,
: and you guys end up getting married
: and having kids- and everything-
: I just hope they have his old hairline and your old nose.
: (Slams the phone down.)
: (To everyone) Okay, I know it was a cheap shot,
: but I feel so much better now.
: End
: ---
: 看來討論的熱烈程度與發文時間不太相關
: 下集還是恢復為週六發文 下週是7/16

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