[lit-ideas] Re: Sunday Wotsit
- From: David Ritchie <profdritchie@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2012 15:59:00 -0800
On Feb 26, 2012, at 3:46 PM, John Wager wrote:
> David Ritchie wrote:
>> At dinner I was talking with someone about Ellis Island's tendency to
>> re-name immigrants. "Oh," she said, "my maiden name was one of those. It's
>> a garbled version of the Czech for, 'Did you ask me my name?'" This small
>> tale amused me so much it cheered me through a whole day's small stresses.
> OK, I TRIED--I REALLY tried--for at least an hour to avoid doing this, but
> I'm getting weaker as I get older. So here goes:
>
> A young Chinese-American woman had the unusual name "Ferguson." When asked
> how she got it, she said that when her father was coming through Ellis Island
> he got the name Ferguson in a mix-up. The man ahead of him was from Germany,
> and when asked his name, that man said "Ach! Ich hab schon vergessen!" "OK,
> Shaun Ferguson" the clerk said as he wrote the name down. That didn't make
> sense to the man asking the Chinese woman about her father's name; he was
> behind the German. "Oh, when my father was asked his name, he said "Sam Ding"
> and so the clerk said, "That's funny" as he wrote down Shaun Ferguson again."
Thanks. A big smile. I'll file under "it doesn't have to be true to be
brill."
Oh, and did I mention Arsenal beating Spurs 5-2...after being 2-0 down?
Hooray for Cardiff too.
David Ritchie,
floating in
Portland, Oregon
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