|
a peeve named
well, me
back to: my pet peeve ∙
duck & cover
A REQUEST TO MY CO-WORKERS AND ANYONE ELSE
WHO CAN'T SPELL MY NAME
 Having just
celebrated another anniversary with at my company (okay, maybe not so
much “celebrated” as “observed its passing”), I think I've been reasonably
patient in not bringing this up
until now.
My name is Brittney. Not Brittany,
Britney, Britteny, Brittni, Briteni, or the ever-so-pretentious Britníe.
You’ll note there are no A’s in my name, that there is only one E and that
it comes after the N, not before. And unlike the vocally-challenged Ms.
Spears, there are two T’s in my name. Although not everyone has been
working here as long as I have, you have worked here long enough to have
A) received an email from me, B) sent an email to me, and/or C) viewed the
IN/OUT board at least once. All three of these things have the correct
spelling of my name.
I understand that my particular spelling
is not the most common, but I’m perhaps the oldest Brittney you will ever
meet since it was not a popular name when my mother gave it to me and
didn’t become popular until I was in high school. I never met another
Brittney until I was 21 and working in a daycare, at which point I took
care of no less than 7 Brittneys of various spellings, ranging in age from
1 year to 7 years old. In other words, I have seniority.
And yes, I’m aware that the MS Word
spell-checker prompts you to spell my name “Brittany”. While I can
appreciate that you are in fact utilizing the spell
check feature, I would point out that the MS Word spell-checker also
allows “preventative” as correct, which it isn’t, but it can correctly
spell “Schwarzenegger”, which must surely be the sign of an impending
Apocalypse. The moral of the story? Don’t believe everything the MS Word
spell-checker tells you.
I'm also aware that Google asks you if you meant "Britney"
when you search for my name, but please note that Google -- as fabulous as
it is -- operates only on quantity, not quality. And the aforementioned
Ms. Spears is nothing if not prolific.
Despite
what Google, Word, or anyone else tells you, my name is spelled
B-R-I-T-T-N-E-Y. Write it down, add it to your dictionary, keep it
in your Favorites, I don't care, just spell it correctly.
Oh and the correct adjective/noun form of "prevent"?
"Preventive". Write that down, too.
04.13.04 |
