There were several threads touched on, but one was about this person, another female I think, whose last name is Wang, or at least is spelled Wang, but who insists on having it pronounced as Wong. Frankly, I never heard of such an insistence.
It reminded me a bit of the character Hyacinth Bucket in the Brit comedy 'Keeping Up Appearances' who insists her name is pronounced with an upper crust flourish as Bouquet. Her name is spelled as Bucket, and is really meant to be pronounced as the synonym for pail, but from the lips of the status conscious Hyacinth it comes out Bouquet.
Another co-worker told my friend that So-and-So Wang insists her name is pronounced Wong because it denotes better breeding. "Really. Who does she think she is?"
I truly didn't think too much of the story until I read the obituary that appeared a few days later for Charles Wang, a founder of a very successful software company and a majority owner of the NHL's New York Islanders, a role he was most closely associated with later in life.
Quickly into the obituary, Steven Lohr informs the reader that Wang is pronounced Wong. Okay, there really might he something to this Wang/Wong thing after all.
I remember the early days of desktop publishing and word processing at work when Mr. Wang's software was being used to create coding manuals for the examiners at the health insurance company I worked at.
As for myself, I wasn't at the time at all familiar with the software, but found myself laughing heartily to myself when I passed the 'Wang Room' where the software was used on one of the few dedicated mini-computers in existence at the time.
I associated the word Wang with jerking off, and laughed at the idea that work would so visibly admit they created a room dedicated to it. And leave the door open, at that.
So the woman who insists her last name that is spelled Wang should have it pronounced as Wong wasn't alone. Here was Charles Wang, a well-known business figure who it seemed would insist on the same thing. The woman gained some credibility and some sympathy.
The on/off ramp connections didn't end there. I had tickets to see and hear Yuja Wang at Carnegie Hall last night in what would be an evening's program of percussion pieces played with a percussion ensemble lead by Martin Grubdinger, with Ms. Wang at the piano. The program was thoroughly enjoyable, and was an arrangement of music I had never heard before. A complete success.
Now anyone who knows anything about Yuja Wang may not care at all about how her last name is pronounced, but probably cares more what outfit she is wearing. And I would think this might be as true for female observers and well as male observers.
She is an internationally acclaimed pianist you would listen to even if she were covered in burlap, but who in addition to her captivating playing wears short dresses and skirts so figure hugging that she can be viewed as the cutest Kewpie doll streetwalker who ever sat on a piano bench and reached for the keys. She is something to behold in those outfits and five inch heels that leaves you wondering how do her feet work the pedals?
I always though her name would be pronounced as it looked: Wang. But when I considered the lunch conversation with my friend and the obituary for Charles Wang, I had to wonder if I've been wrong all these years and Yuja Wang's name is pronounced Wong.
No phonetic aid printed in the program, and certainly no chance I'm ever going to get to ask her how does she pronounce her name. And since she's 31 and in profoundly looking good health, a helpful obituary is not likely to appear anytime soon. Wang, or Wong?
Google to the rescue. A short audio burst tells me, and anyone else who might be interested, it's Wang. Yuja Wang.
Wang, Wong, or by any other name, the music and the clothes would be just as sweet.
http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com
Recall that joke from the maternity ward "Two Wongs don't make a white."
ReplyDeleteW.C. Fields in the Bank Dick had a surname SOUSE which he pronounced Soosay.