name pronunciation and spelling mistakes

content/post/2022/10/name-pronunciation-and-spelling-mistakes.md

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+---
+title: Name Pronunciation And Spelling Mistakes
+date: 2022-10-23T09:27:00+02:00
+categories:
+  - braindump
+---
+
+Flemish and Dutch businesses, teachers, governments, and shops seem to have a very difficult time correctly spelling my name, Wouter Groeneveld---and that completely baffles me. My first name is [a common name in the Dutch speaking regions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wouter) and can be compared to (and by Americans is often confused by) Walter. That's luckily never been a big problem. That last name though... A couple of days ago, we received yet another incorrectly addressed letter. Somehow, _Groeneveld_---literally translated "Greenfield"---gets morphed into other bizarre stuff:
+
+- Schoeneveld ("Shoefield")---ever seen those growing in a field?;
+- Groenveld---missing an _e_ there that's the difference between _a_ green field and _the_ green field;
+- Groenveldt---if you're unsure, add a _t_, in true Alexander von Humboldt style;
+- Graneveld ("Grainfield")---sure, a wheat field can be green;
+- Van Groenveld---more evidence of laziness and just making stuff up by adding a German style _von_ preposition;
+- Gröneveld---squished those letters together, did you?;
+- Geleveld---are you mixing up the colors yellow and green on purpose?.
+
+These silly "mistakes" (some feel like bad jokes) remind me of the name that appears on the weekly TV guide for Joey and Chandler in Friends: [Miss Chanandler Bong](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1xXlxDHWPU). I'm not at all offended by the confusion but instead surprised by the incapability of correctly typing in a name in a digital form---or even worse, just copying it, since I am the one who usually has to enter it---especially by Dutch speaking people who should have no problem whatsoever spelling it. I guess it could also be attributed to my incomprehensible mumbling on the phone.
+
+As for English speaking people, Wouter ([\[ˈʋʌutər\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Dutch)) is surprisingly difficult to pronounce: attempts usually stop at _Walter_, which is not the same, but I'll take it. There's no _a_ in there. I never really understood why it's difficult: the first part of the name can be pronounced exactly like "wow", just add the "ter". Don't do _Walter_ or _Wuwter_, just _Wowter_. That said, I'm probably just as terrible at correctly pronouncing several names in foreign languages. And that's okay: there's a culture and language barrier to go through. 
+
+But that's not the case with locals who seem to be reluctant go get my last name right. Confusing a shoe with a color is stretching it a bit too far.