Wellington trains haven’t been accurately pronouncing Māori place names. But now the Greater Wellington Regional Council is updating the recording for the automated announcements to reflect the correct pronunciation of in te reo Māori [the Māori language].
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Call for Papers: The Journal of Urban Studies Special Issue on Naming
The journal of Urban Studies is planning a special issue on “Naming Rights and the Cultural Landscapes of Neoliberal Urbanism.” The purpose of this issue is to critically examine the use of naming rights as a spatial strategy of neoliberal urbanism.
Authors interested in contributing to this publication are invited to submit a 200-word abstract to [redwood@uvic.ca] by August 15, 2016.
Proposals which address one of the following themes are particularly encouraged:
- political struggles over the planning, adoption, and implementation of urban naming rights policies, programs, or agreements
- economic outcomes of urban naming rights programs in cities of varying sizes
- the cultural reception of commodified place names in everyday speech and the spatial imaginaries of everyday urban life
- the relationship between urban naming rights and broader processes of neoliberal urbanization.
In-depth case studies and comparative urban analyses are equally welcome.
Updated Information: ANS Panel at the Modern Language Association Conference
More information is now available about the ANS Panel at the Modern Language Association Conference, January 5-8th, 2017 in Philadelphia, PA.
The American Name Society will be holding a special panel under the theme of “Names and Multilingualism.” Multilingual and multicultural communities have been developed since the ancient world. The linguistic and cultural contacts within these communities have attracted the interest of a broad range of disciplines, where in some cases different strands have emerged.
For panelist abstracts and bios see Names and Multilingualism Information.
The Disney Princess Effect On Baby Names
Would you ever name your daughter Cinderella? What about Elsa? Tiana? Ariel?
Maybe you weren’t influenced by Disney while you were looking for your baby girl’s first name, but according to an article appearing in the Huffington Post, a lot of US Americans have been. Using data from the Social Security Administration, writers Jan Diehm and Alissa Scheller explore the Disney Princess effect on girls’ names in the United States.
The internet contest for re-naming Robert E. Lee Elementary
What is harder than getting rid of an old name that irritates a LOT of people? Finding a new name that does not tick-off even more people. A group of wishful re-namers in Austin, Texas, recently learned this lesson.
In hopes of finding a new moniker for their local elementary school, “Robert E. Lee Elementary,” school officials started an internet naming contest. The result was abysmal. Not only was participation surprisingly low, but the name suggestions ranged from disappointing to downright shocking. Among the top ten names suggested was, for example, the “Adolf Hitler School for Friendship and Tolerance.”
Interested in knowing what name made the top spot among the school’s onomastic nominees? Here is a wee hint: it was not Democratic hopeful “The Hillary R. Clinton Elementary School.” “Schoolie McSchoolface” also made the list of nominees…but it was not the number one choice. Find out the top nominee.
DOMAINFest, Hong Kong, September 19-22 2016
Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in the development, use, and marketing of domain names. One of the largest growing hubs for the application of this onomastic know-how is Asia. In recognition of that fact, the 2016 DOMAINFest, an international conference for business specialists in domain naming, will take place in Hong Kong from the 19th to the 22nd of September.
Scheduled speakers include:
- Braden Pollock, founder and owner of Legal Brand Marketing
- Jothan Frakes, co-founder and co-producer of NAMESCON
- Bill Sweetman, President of Name Ninja
- Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia
NamesCon, Las Vegas, January 22-25 2017
NamesCon, the world’s largest yearly domain-industry conference, will be holding its 2017 conference in Las Vegas from the 22nd to the 25th of January. The purpose of the four-day conference is to provide an interdisciplinary forum for domain-name professionals to learn about the latest developments in the field. Everyone from attorneys, brand managers, registrars, digital marketers, individual end-users, and web-hosting companies will be represented. Registration for this event has already begun and a limited time 40% discount is currently available to interested attendees.
13 Emotional Stages of Picking the Perfect Name for Your Baby
Naming a baby can be an emotional process. Cosmopolitan recently published a take on the stages of this journey. Can you relate?
The Proper Way to Pronounce IKEA’s Most Challenging Item Names
Here’s a video to help you pronounce challenging Ikea product names. As a bonus, you’ll learn what these Swedish product names mean.
Alternative Pokemon Names
“I renamed all my Pokemon whatever my 2 year old called them” says it all.