What’s in a name?

My pride, actually.

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There are those who find it hard to pronounce my last name, for some reason –it’s actually very simple. Monteagudo. Mon-te-a-gu-do. Five syllables of say-it-how-it’s-spelled Spanish-derived goodness. Easy, right?

Last Wednesday my friend and I talked to one of our profs regarding our thesis proposal. Lovely as she is, she still doesn’t know how to pronounce my last name (and I think it’s already my third year being taught by her, so I don’t know if it’s just my lack of insistent correction that enabled the problem. At some point you just get used to the butchering). She keeps pronouncing it as Monteaguado. It’s become an inside joke, actually.

And it wouldn’t be so bad, but. Here’s the difference.

My family name means “sharp mountain”.

The butchered pronounciation means something else entirely, and not in a good way.

Monteaguado means “watered-down mountain”, which isn’t really that impressive. No offense meant to people who might actually be carrying this name.

There you have it.

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