What's in a Name?

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet.” This most familiar line from “Romeo and Juliet,” Act 2, Scene 2, raises a sticky philosophical question. Even though logically a name is merely a label, Juliet knows that names carry a whole lot of significance. At birth, our parents give us a name that follows us through life. Sometimes, parents choose a name that does not lend itself easily to nicknames. Other times, parents choose a name, intending to call the child by a nickname. How many “Daniels” become “Dans” or “Susans” become “Sues”?

My father’s given name is “Billy,” not “William,” although over the course of his life, many well-meaning people have tried to rename him as “William.” When someone tries to give him the name of “William,” he notes that his name is “Billy.” I asked him if he knew why his parents chose the more informal “Billy,” but he does not know.

Different forms of “billy” are familiar—billy goat, billy club, hillbilly. Recently, I saw the usage “city-billy” in a newspaper article, so I decided to investigate the word “billy.” The first entry in the “Oxford English Dictionary” lists three different meanings: (1) fellow, as in companion; (2) fellow in a more general sense; and (3) brother. The “OED” notes, sadly, that “billy” and its corresponding feminine form, “tittie,” are both now considered “rude.” This meaning for “billy,” while of unknown origin according to the “OED,” seems to have first appeared in the Northern British Isles around the 16^th century.

The “Chambers Slang Dictionary” sheds some light on the possible origin of the name. It defines “Billy” as “a Protestant,” deriving from King William of Orange, the Protestant king who overthrew King James II. (Many dictionaries identify “Billy” as a nickname for “William.) How and when “Billy” took on its derogatory meaning is unclear. “The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang” gives usages from the late 19^th century of “billy goat” as a “lecherous man.”

The “American Heritage Dictionary” defines “hillbilly” as “a person from the backwoods or a remote mountain area,” noting that it is “often offensive.” The “OED” defines “hillbilly” similarly, not noting its possibly offensive nature. According to the “OED,” usages of “hillbilly” first appeared around the beginning of the 20^th century.

Regardless, my father, Billy, is a most excellent fellow, and a Southern Baptist deacon, to boot. In addition, he was born in very rural Southern Mississippi. Whether his parents realized it or not, they named him very aptly, after a Protestant king familiarly known in his time as “King Billy.”

The Truth--Or Is It?

Belie: “to give a false representation to; misrepresent”; also “to show to be false; contradict,” according to “The American Heritage Dictionary.” Who among us has not falsely represented something—an action, a motive, a desire—at some time?

Shakespeare develops Sonnet 138, my all-time favorite Shakespearean sonnet, through a contradiction which depends on lies: “When my love swears that she is made of truth,/ I do believe her though I know she lies.” The male speaker of the sonnet pretends that he is younger than he really is while his lover pretends to be faithful to the relationship. The two people in this sonnet preserve the truth by means of lies. He knows that she is unfaithful, and she knows he is younger than he claims. They are admitting and accepting that they are both imperfect human beings.

The speaker resolves the situation in the final couplet: “Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,/ And in our faults by lies we flattered be.” This couplet turns on a bawdy pun. They lie together—they tell each other deliberate untruths--so that they can continue to lie together—make love.

Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” Is “creative with the truth,” as well. When Mitch, whom Blanche hopes to marry, confronts her regarding this “creativity,” Blanche replies, “I don’t tell truth, I tell what ought to be truth.” Like the lovers in Sonnet 138, Blanche is older than she represents and has been sexually promiscuous in the past. She deliberately “creates” a version of her past self which she hopes will allow her to redefine her present self.

Sometimes we lie on purpose, with good intent. Sometimes we lie without even knowing it. Have you ever reminisced with friends or family and come up with as many different versions of an event as people reminiscing?

What is my point? Yahoo announced that it is shutting down its Yahoo Contributor Network effective the end of July, 2014. After wringing my hands over the loss of this publication platform, I took Rosie Heinegg’s suggestion to heart and have created a second blog, “Be-Lied,” which I am defining as “Surrounded by Stories.” It will be my own Personal Contributor Network, although I am kicking off the new blog with a story-telling challenge. “Be-Lied” will be mostly non-fiction, but my intent is to surround the reader with words, and let the reader sort out truth from fiction. “Be-Worded” will remain an examination of words in everyday life.

And that’s the truth!