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The trouble with the name "Otto"...

Discussion in 'Free Fire Zone' started by Otto, Aug 27, 2017.

  1. Otto

    Otto Spambot Nemesis Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    It's not an accent thing to be sure, especially as the two words are homonyms. These people are hearing the sound otto/auto and thinking a human was given the name "Auto".

    Out of necessity I do spell out my name most every time. I did so in the photo that started this thread, and you can see the server scratched out the incorrect "auto" and corrected it below that. Most recently I've just said "Otto" to see what they come up with.

    A significant factor here is demography. Every person who wrote down "Auto" was of the same background. The Otto vs Auto episodes are likely a cultural phenomenon more than anything else.
     
  2. Ken The Kanuck

    Ken The Kanuck Member

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    Just be thankfui your last name isn't 'matic'

    KTK
     
  3. Otto

    Otto Spambot Nemesis Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    An auto vs Otto update. I visited the same pizza place as the previous two weeks. The person taking the order was different than last week. For those concerned with my mispronouncuation of a homonym, I had a work colleague order for me. Same result.
     
  4. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    You know you are doomed, Auto, with a forum full of guys. You'll never be called Otto again.
     
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  5. TIRDAD

    TIRDAD Active Member

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    dear Otto, in Iran, you never have this problem. Because there is a system that gives you a number ...

    Another thing, you won't have any problem with your name. Because of 2 things:

    1- Otto and some other Germanic/Nordic given names like Andreas, Anton, Erik, Karl, Gustav are frequently used by Iranian Armenians as given name.

    2- Related to above, Otto is a common given name by German tourists.

    Problem is last names ...

    For example, instead of Hildebrandt, you may face with HILL THE BRAND --- HELL BERAN --- etc. (This was what I remember).

    اوتو ...

    We write in Farsi, and pronouncing is OTO.
     
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  6. TIRDAD

    TIRDAD Active Member

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    I never heard your given name before.

    But, in Farsi, it sounds same as it is.

    میتزی or میت زی is what it is written in Farsi.
     
  7. von Poop

    von Poop Waspish

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    All Ottos should be very fat, and German.
     
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  8. Otto

    Otto Spambot Nemesis Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    I comply with the first, but not the second.

    My given name is actually Ottavio, but if you think I've had trouble with the name Otto, try to get Americans to pronounce "Ottavio". So I use the circumcised version of the original name: "Otto".

    The problem is further compounded by the Spanish version of the name which is "Octavio", so anyone of Hispanic origin automatically pronounces and spells it wrong. On more than one occasion I've had Spanish speakers correct me on the spelling of "Ottavio", telling me adamantly that the name has a "c" in it. With the high population of Spanish speakers in this area, this happens very, very often.
     
  9. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    Since all four of my grandparents emigrated from Italy, Ottavio is much more pleasing to my ear than Otto or Auto, or whatever you go by now.
    :confused:
     
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  10. Otto

    Otto Spambot Nemesis Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    I like my original name very much also. :D The utility of using it is very low however, even with the problems with using "Otto", the use of "Ottavio" creates significantly more.
     
  11. Otto

    Otto Spambot Nemesis Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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  12. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    During the first couple of years over at ww2talk there were several Limeys that insisted on typing at my name as "Geoff" or "Geoffrey" when it, at the time, was plainly rendered "Jeff" in my signature.

    Never figured that one out.
     
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  13. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    The guys that created "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" rejected "Laura" as a first name for their character because, their words, "Americans couldn't pronounce Laura."
     
  14. toki2

    toki2 Active Member

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    Because, in Englandshire it would just not do to use the obviously misspelt version of the uneducated old colonials.
     
  15. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    LOL. I'll pass that on to my wife, Laura.
     
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  16. Otto

    Otto Spambot Nemesis Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    If putting a "u" in Laura is cause for concern in the Home Island, then some of the naming conventions used in the inner city of Chicago would make your brain to somersaults.
     
  17. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    I think we had two British game writing nerds who had limited exposure to pretty much everything, leave alone Americans. Remember, this was in the days of Jolt Cola.
     
  18. TD-Tommy776

    TD-Tommy776 Man of Constant Sorrow

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    We're not uneducated. We're just more economical with our use of the letter "u". They're in short supply here. ;)
     
  19. toki2

    toki2 Active Member

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    I am Scottish so being economical is in my blood. I only go to England on missionary work.
     
  20. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    Missionary work? Who are you trying to convert?
     

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