"Tristan" now feminine given name

Jesse Sheidlower jester at PANIX.COM
Fri Feb 24 03:41:19 UTC 2006


On Thu, Feb 23, 2006 at 07:31:43PM -0800, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> Burns's poem is often said to refer to him, suggesting that
> Burns himself was sometimes called "Robin," which was once
> perceived as a common nickname for "Robert."

Robert MacNeil, of the MacNeil/Lehrer Report, and more relevantly
The Story of English and Do You Speak American?, goes by Robin.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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