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DISCOVER THE CHALLENGES SOME ENGLISH PEOPLE FACE WHEN TRANSLATING OR PRONOUNCING THEIR NAMES One unexpected side-effect of living in France can be discovering your perfectly common English
name is hard –or funny – to say here. Take anyone whose name is Gemma Pell. They were the subject of a recent viral meme that asked “imagine the trouble she has introducing herself in
France”. Gemma Pell sounds just like the French je m’appelle or “my name is”. You can also find that your name is being automatically translated into something amusing. We asked readers for
stories about their names – here is a selection. I started to fill in my French tax return but later thought I might be able to get my PC to translate the form into English. SIR BRIAN TIDY
It worked, but on reopening the file, to my astonishment it referred to a Sir Brian Tidy. Who on earth was Sir Brian Tidy and how was it I had accidentally opened his tax return? Then it
dawned on me – the auto translation had included my name, with Mr becoming Sir! Brian Ranger, Mougins SLEEVEBOARD I saw a mistranslation of my name repeatedly when translating official
French correspondence into English. Jeanette was often translated as “sleeve-board”, a piece of equipment in pressing establishments for ironing sleeves. In Toulouse, you can find a laundry
called La Petite Jeannette Pressing. Jeanette Morris, Haute-Garonne DOWN I have accepted that at best I am called Down. Dawn Mulholland, via Facebook DADDY 2 People here cannot pronounce
Keith, so in the local cafe I am known as Daddy 2 because there’s an Ian in the village who has been there longer, so he is Daddy! Keith Jones, via Facebook GILL OR GILES I’m Gill, but the
French think that’s Giles. It’s very hard to pronounce the difference! Gill Matthews, via Facebook ESPÈCE My name, Elspeth, is tricky for many people. In France, I’m often called Espèce,
while next door’s twins have decided it’s Pépesse. But when our friend’s granddaughter was young, she thought it was Aerospace. Elspeth Jones, via Facebook JOHN-JOHN AND JUDIT My husband is
John. Our neighbours cannot understand just one name – they’re used to Jean-Pierre, Jean-Marc, etc – so they refer to him as John-John. I am Judy and under no circumstances can they say
that, so I am always “Judit”. Judy Heasman, via Facebook LAISSE-LES Lesley turned into Laisse-les on my first stay with a French family on a school exchange. Lesley Wheeler, via Facebook
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