Behold the truths behind the internet.

[amanuensis1]

I discovered something yesterday: I have never, ever had to spell amanuensis out loud for anyone. As in, never given anyone Amanuensis's email address or website address or lj name out loud. I tried to do it for the first time on a recording yesterday and completely blew it.

Comments

[alchemia.livejournal.com]

I'm exactly the same way with things. I can dial a phone number by physical memory- but i can't say the numbers out loud or write them on paper. I can write or type many words, but can't spell them out loud. For words, I have to write them out before hand and read off what I wrote. For phone numbers, I have to pretend to be dialing an invisible phone- it makes me look a wee bit mad I bet =P

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Thing is, I can do it without difficulty if I've had at least, like, one experience with it. ^_^ But I realized yesterday that I'd never done it ever, never had to spell it out loud, and found myself thinking, "a-m-a...wait a sec--"

[jellybean-slash.livejournal.com]

You should hear me try and tell someone my e-mail. I totally get it all jumbled up and usually end up just writing it down for them.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I've done it so much with my standard email that it's no problem--I can even spell it out military-alphabet style. But I've never given this email to anyone out loud--only over the net! ^_^

[maelwaedd.livejournal.com]

I just tried to spell it aloud with it in front of me and I failed miserably. I'll blame the italics, though. *dodgy look*

I feel your pain, though. This is my name, yo, and I still had to put up with a name badge that read 'madgellin' for five months. Problem is, I didn't notice it for three of those. :/

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Madgellin! Omigod, I feel your pain. I have a lot of misspellings of my real name.

[aviss.livejournal.com]

Funny thing is, my internet name is easy and I can spell it... it's my real name what usually gives me problems. I'm the worst.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yup. I've...never had to spell it out loud before. Everyone with whom I communicate is online--or, for those I've actually met, they didn't have to ask me!

[sazzlette.livejournal.com]

*pops up*

I once recorded myself reading out a drabble by elskegaderian and realised I had no idea how to pronounce her username.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Hee! Yeah, there was a thing going around once about "how many different pronounciations of an lj user name can we come up with. pauraque had a LOT.

[cluegirl.livejournal.com]

You know, I can't even recall hearing you SAY "amanuensis" out loud.

Do you say "a man you en sis"?
Because I always want to say "a man oo en sis" and I'm not sure that's right.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Dictionary says the third syllable is "you", so that's how I say it. uh-MAN-you-EN-siss, light stress on the second syllable, main stress on the fourth.

I thought "Wenceslas" would be an entertaining nickname for it (from the "wence" that you get in the last three syllables) but it never stuck. ^_^

[sirjimmy.livejournal.com]

Strange how these things work

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yup. Everyone I know who would want my email addy is someone I communicate with by text, not by speaking.

[prillalar]

When I was recording some fic, I had to do the "by Halrloprillalar" bit about 8 times before I got it right. :)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Snort! What were we thinking, picking these names? Shoulda been Fred or Max. ^_^

[silverhielm.livejournal.com]

I'll have to go and control the English pronounciation of 'amanuensis'!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Is the English different, then? *is clueless*

[glockgal.livejournal.com]

That is so much with the cuteness, it hurts!!

I've had to slowly say your name out to people, because I'm fairly sure I'm pronouncing it wrong. *hee* AH-MAN-YOO-en-SIS?

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

That's exactly how I say it! With the stress on the lowercase (fourth) syllable, yeah!

And, yeah, everyone who asks me for my email addy asks on lj, via text, y'know?

[ariadneelda.livejournal.com]

*is amused by your post* My language being phonetic, I always tend to break down a name in syllables instead of letters in my mind, even in English, before trying to spell it out, which makes things easier for me. ^^

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

(Yer icon's so appropriate!) I work by visualization and/or memory, so, once I've done it once or twice, it sticks. I hope.

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

Aren't you proud, though, that now you've inspired dozens of us to sit here in front of our monitors and try our skill at spelling your name aloud? :)

Incidentally, I've come across the word "amanuensis" only about three or four times in books of one sort or another, and I always get that little "spotting a friend in a crowd" thrill. It does tend to look naked without the "1", though.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I saw it the other week, in a book, I remember! Gave me such a grin. ^_^

[gmth.livejournal.com]

Did I ever tell you that the first time I saw your pen name (on the BE list!), I mentally pronounced it "Emesis"?

I didn't? Well, I bet you're glad you know now. ;-)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

And you were saying, "Um, does she have any idea what that means?...Oh, wait, it's different. Ah, hell, easier to say that way."

[arachnethe2.livejournal.com]

That's why I'm using the shortcut Ara. Arachnethe2 is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay complicated. At least for me. :)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

When I see your name I say "uh-RACK-nee-thee." Unless it's to call you "Arachne the two," like Winnie-the-Pooh!

[complete.livejournal.com]

Was this with Emma?

uh-MAN-you-EN-siss.. I might record myself and send it too you just saying your name so I don't get it wrong on the intro. (do you know what I'm talking about? :P)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Actually it was for something a little bit different! (I still have to load Skype on my computer--I'm scared it's not going to work and give myself a headache trying to figure it out! But I'll bite the bullet and do it soon.)

[masterofmercury.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I tried and saw what you meant. I have no difficulty writing/typing your name, but I had some problem spelling it out loud.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Y'see, y'see? It doesn't roll off the tongue; you have to remember how many n's 'n' stuff!

[mneomosyne.livejournal.com]

I say it with the west-flemish 'a' like in 'warm' (a low and round 'a') a-m-a-nue (like the fench pronounce 'naked') -en-sis I had no idea it meant something too. :) Good thing you posted this, I wish I could hear all the different pronounciations.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yup, it means something! It was even dictionary.com's word of the day not long ago!

[kennahijja.livejournal.com]

*snicker*
Yours never gave me any trouble (*pets seven years of Latin classes*) - although, on second thought, I'd totally spell it the German way, and that can look disastrously different - *looks nervously at Hermione*. It's dead pretty still :).

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

It was fandom non-specific and reflected the way I felt about writing at the time, so. ^_^

[florahart]

Hee.

You know how I spell things? Forwards or backwards, doesn't much matter, because I just imagine the word and then read off the letters. Really, while I'm doing the crossword, I'm as likely to fill in the word backward as forward, especially if my hand is already over on the right. This makes my husband crazy.

This is apparently a visual-spatial learning style thing. I was an adult before it became clear to me this is odd. Heh. This course doesn't mean I never get a word wrong; I have the same typo tendencies as anyone, and it also means if I haven't seen a word before, I'm relatively likely to not know how to spell it without some consideration of roots to put it together from.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, yeah, I'd be all, "That's so not typical..." if I watched you filling in a crossword. Nifty!

[aquila1nz.livejournal.com]

*tries saying it, just like everyone else*

I have one logon where every second letter is an 'a', for the first 8 letters, and then there are two letters followed by an 'a'. Spelling it out rolls off my tongue, but my fingers always slip over the fifth a.

I'm glad I chose a fairly simple username when I first got online.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one who types "Sanpe" a lot when trying to type "Snape"?

Pimp Cane

[(Anonymous)]

Completely random --

You can buy Lucius Malfoy's pimp cane. (For a hundred dollars.)

http://www.noblecollection.com/catalog/product.cfm?id=NN7639&catid=21

I thought that you should know.

Re: Pimp Cane

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I am TOTALLY considering it. ^_^

[silentauror.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, I've tried spelling amanuensis aloud before and stumbled over most of it. And, further irony, I've always meant to tell you that I first learned that term in a course called Introduction to the Bible. :) Don't you feel special now? :D

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I totally do! *hugs*

[gatewaygirl.livejournal.com]

When you introduced yourself to me at TWH, it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out who you'd said you were. Granted, it was in a noisy crowd, so I think I'd missed a bit in the middle, but you compensate for that with words you know. Aurally, "Amanuensis" was completely new to me.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

It was a VERY loud crowd! And, yeah, it's not a word you hear much, and I'm sure there are people who look at it and say, "Am-an-oo-WEE-sis," "Am-ah-NUN-sis," everything. ^_^