Let the answers begin!
Awhile ago, I solicited questions from all you kiddies. Some left questions in the comments while others emailed them. So every now and then I’ll be answering a few.
RA, being the overachiever that she is, sent me several fascinating and thoughtful questions. Here’s a couple.
Is there a story behind how your parents decided to name you Valerie? Do you like it? Did you always?
My parents thought I was going to be a boy. Apparently they were planning on naming me Kevin if that happened. But, surprise! Not a boy. So instead, my parents went with the name of one of my mom’s favorite actresses from one of her favorite shows: Valerie Harper from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. My mom thought she was pretty and funny, so it seemed like a good fit. And thus we had Valerie Harris.
I’ve never had a problem with my name. There was never another Valerie in my grade, let alone in my class. Plus, there aren’t a lot of things that rhyme with Valerie that could be turned into an insult. The only rhyming nickname I’ve ever gotten was “Low Calorie Valerie,” but that could have been so much worse.
The only drawback? My classmates had a really hard time spelling my name when it came time to Valentine’s Day. I got things like:
Valarie
Vallory
Valary
Vallery
What bygone phrase do you miss the most?
There are several phrases that I could wax sentimental about, but I’m going to have to go with “for crying out loud.” I said it without thinking a few weeks ago and I couldn’t stop laughing. When you think about it, it’s a completely ridiculous phrase but it perfectly shows your level of exasperation. As a writer, I appreciate phrases that have such a strong connotation.
More questions and answers to come later. If you have anything you want to know, leave it in the comments or send me an email.
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I’m a pretty consistent reader, and have commented occasionally although I prefer to lurk in the shadows. I do have to dust off my keyboard though and say I commiserate 110% in the misspelling of the name Valerie. I never thought it was that difficult, but some of the variations I’ve seen over the years have made me scratch my noggin and wonder where some folks learned their ABC’s.
I know RA didn’t ask me this, but I was named after two of my dad’s ex-girlfriends who lived in the town I grew up in. CLASSY. I know my mother was THRILLED!
Yay for answers! And thank you for coding my overshooting as overachieving. Much better.
I love the “Vallory” spelling! I wouldn’t be surprised if that popped up in some funky name book as a weird spelling someday. You know, like Krystynah.
Julie, consider the question asked! I love hearing the origins of people’s names.
Happy to report that I use “for crying out loud” all the time. On a related note, I feel that the word “bonkers” needs to be brought back.
Reading this, I had a flashback. I always thought I was relatively safe from the rhymes-with-your-name teasing as well, then somewhere around 9th grade, some meanie took family life and came up with “lydia chlamydia.” Yeah. No fun.
And regarding RA’s comment, I actually know a girl named Krystyna. Funny. (She’s Polish, though, and over there that spelling’s not weird I guess.) I had never seen it spelled any way close to that, then you throw that out there! At least hers doesn’t have the H on the end though.
Why are people so bad at spelling pretty standard names. I mean, I can understand mistakes with Jenni/Jennie/Jenny or Sarah/Sara, but Valerie? I am pretty sure there is only one way to spell it.
I also often get, in addition to Lauren and Laura, plenty of variations–Loral, Laural, Lorel… even though I have never seen anyone spell “Laurel” any other way. It’s a word! In the dictionary!
I honestly, sincerely say “for crying out loud” on a daily basis. I also use “oh for Pete’s sake” and “for the love of GOD.” Apparently I am a 70 year old lady tucked in a 28 year old body.