Archive for May, 2012

Baby Names 2011

Subtitle: in which I improve the government’s records

Allow me to introduce to you the 2011 SFS Baby Name List. Some of you may recall that I like to take the Social Security baby name list and reorganize it so that a name is counted only once even if it is spelled different ways. It is that time again, this time it’s the names from 2011.

For yet another year, Jacob is NOT the most popular boy’s name in the US – Aiden is. Rather, the name that is pronounced the same as Aiden is the most popular boy’s name in 2011.

Some Stats

  • The top 4 names for the boys are the same as 2010 (the government got the top two names wrong).
  • The top 3 names for the girls are the same as 2010 (the government got the top two names right).
  • William went up in popularity, as I predicted last year.
  • Same thing with Catherine/Katherine. More people spell it with a ‘K’, but the Duchess of Cambridge spells hers with a ‘C’. Both variations increased by about the same amount.
  • William is the highest-ranked boy’s name that has no spelling variations.
  • Girl names still have more spelling variations than boy names (319/1000 vs. 229/1000 alternates)
  • The boys still have the name with the highest number of alternate spellings (Jayden/Aiden with 9 vs. Hailey/Carly with 8)
  • The girls had more new variations added this year. For example: Braelyn/Braelynn, Samiya/Samiyah, and Sloan/Sloane for the girls. Also for example: Bentlee was new, as was Johan/Johann for the boys.

2011 Improved Baby Name List

Click on the link above and peruse to your heart’s content!

He brought his household near man by man; and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was taken.

Joshua 7:18

Having Some Fum with Puns

No, the title is not a typo.

This week’s installment of my attempts at puns:

comic containing puns about football (soccer) teams named Giants and Fum

You will probably agree that Fum of these puns were a little weak.

These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

1 Chronicles 20:8

Gotta Keep ‘Em Hyphenated

I am disappointed with the editors at the marketing department of Colgate. Here is their current toothpaste. What is wrong with it?

Colgate toothpaste tube with Smartfoam that cleans tough to reach spaces

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Family Conversations, Part 16

Round-up of random utterances that I heard lately. Enjoy!

Wife: Okay, who put socks in the fridge?
The funny part was that Beta came running to claim his socks, which he apparently wanted to be cold.

Gamma: When the poison ivy is gone, what time is it?
I: Umm…4 o’clock
Gamma: 5 o’clock!
Well, at least I was close. His questioning reminded me of those annoying Netflix commercials.

Gamma: I’m washing my hair like a cat.
Wife: What?! Stop licking your hands!
Gamma: But Nanoo said that’s what cats do…
Wife: Yes, but you’re not a cat.

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.

1 Corinthians 13:11

The Titans Movies

Regarding the current series of Titans movies, the first one was Clash of the Titans:

movie poster for Clash of the Titans

Then came Wrath of the Titans:
movie poster for Wrath of the Titans
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Talk About This Blog

My brother is annoyed by reporters who interview people and use the phrase “Talk about …” instead of asking questions.

For example, if the Lions were to win the Super Bowl, the reporter would find Matthew Stafford and say to him, “talk about this win”.

In the past, reporters would conduct interviews with questions. The previous example would have been “What does this win mean to you?”

They mean approximately the same thing. They get approximately the same result.

After hearing yet another post-game interview, I thought about it for a few minutes. I wonder if the shift to “talk about” came because people were saying what they wanted to say regardless of the question.

Maybe reporters got tired of people ignoring the question and giving whatever spiel they had, so they stopped bothering to think up questions.

It seems to me that both sides need a refresher course on expectations: interviewers are to ask questions and interviewees are to answer the questions that are asked.

But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he went out onto the porch.

Mark 14:68