The Game of the Name: Anthroponymy for you & me is a book of word play
using well-known names – past and present, real and fictional.
It is purportedly by Bruce Moose, a fictional character created by Susan Lord, who becomes an anthroponymist, that is, one who studies names, after which the game begins: finding and categorizing names in ways that tickle our funny bones.
The Game of the Name includes 44 chapter/lists. There are lists of short names (Dr. Oz), long names (Dr. Apu Nahasapeemapetilon) and mononymous names (Cleopatra). There are names that rhyme (Shaquille O’Neal), colorful names (Scarlett Johansson), anatomical (Edith Head), botanical (Rose Kennedy), geographical (Chynna Phillips), occupational (Amanda Plummer) and zoological (Cat Stevens).
There are lists of names that suggest romance (Courtney Love), money (Johnny Cash), weather (Claude Rains) and transportation (Scooter Libby). Many people have two first names (Betsy Ross). Not many people have two last names (Macaulay Culkin).
The book takes note of people whose names are musical (Viola Davis), comical (Minnehaha), familial (Grandma Moses), fashionable (Will Shortz), repetitive (Boutros Boutros-Ghali) and spiritual (Andy Devine).
Count on finding numerical names (Jennifer 8. Lee), and hi-tech names (Jack Webb), as well as names that pertain to food (Condoleezza Rice), or sports (David Schwimmer).
The book is brief, just 94 pages, but long on fun. Readers are invited to play the game by adding names to the lists and creating new categories. So, once you’ve laughed at all the famous people, add people in your life who belong in this book.
The Game of the Name: Anthroponymy for you & me is a book of word play using well-known names – past and present, real and fictional. It is purportedly by Bruce Moose, a fictional character whose fascination with names is explained in the introduction. In the opening pages Bruce becomes an anthroponymist, that is, one who studies names, after which the game begins: finding and categorizing names in ways that tickle our funny bones.
The Game of the Name includes 44 chapter/lists. There are lists of short names (Dr. Oz), long names (Dr. Apu Nahasapeemapetilon) and mononymous names (Cleopatra). There are names that rhyme (Shaquille O’Neal), colorful names (Scarlett Johansson), anatomical (Edith Head), botanical (Rose Kennedy), geographical (Chynna Phillips), occupational (Amanda Plummer) and zoological (Cat Stevens).
There are lists of names that suggest romance (Courtney Love), money (Johnny Cash), weather (Claude Rains) and transportation (Scooter Libby). Many people have two first names (Betsy Ross). Not many people have two last names (Macaulay Culkin).
The book takes note of people whose names are musical (Viola Davis), comical (Minnehaha), familial (Grandma Moses), fashionable (Will Shortz), repetitive (Boutros Boutros-Ghali) and spiritual (Andy Devine).
Count on finding numerical names (Jennifer 8. Lee), and hi-tech names (Jack Webb), as well as names that pertain to food (Condoleezza Rice), or sports (David Schwimmer).
The book is brief, just 94 pages, but long on fun. Readers are invited to play the game by adding names to the lists and creating new categories. So, once you’ve laughed at all the famous people, add people in your life who belong in this book.