Question about usage of names and social convention

[Sarah Hurst]

Very true! I and other people I know who have encountered this all say they
find it rude rather than friendly. At my local Wells Fargo we are supposed
to give the cashier a marble in their jar as a reward every time they say
our names. I can't stand salespeople who don't know me using my name. Why
haven't they cottoned on yet that this is obnoxious?

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of George Kalbouss
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 10:59 AM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Question about usage of names and social convention

Regarding the Sarah Palin phenomenon and the usage of names...   
There's a US-American mannerism created
mainly for salespeople, and founded by the Dale Carnegie types of  
institutes.  This mannerism encourages
people to overuse the names of people while addressing them, ("Yes,  
Charles... you know, Charles... etc.)
The purposes are twofold:  (1) to remember the person's name and (2)  
to create a feeling of friendliness.
I recall Dan Quayle also using this mannerism, and you encounter it a  
lot with car salespersons,  telephone
solicitors, politicians soliciting votes and the like.  College  
Professors rarely go through Dale Carnegie.  After you hear it a lot  
in certain
contexts, it begins to smack of insincerity, despite this it is  
encountered frequently.

	I don't know of this deliberate mannerism in any other language or  
culture.



George Kalbouss
Assoc Prof. (Emeritus)
Slavic Languages
The Ohio State University
On Apr 29, 2009, at 11:59 AM, Rutsala, Kirsten M. wrote:

> The textbook seems to mean the former:  Russians often use the name  
> of the person they are addressing directly, more frequently than  
> speakers of English do.  In my entirely unscientific observation,  
> that is an accurate statement.
>
> As for referring to a person as "he" or "she" in his or her  
> presence, that is considered rude in English as well as Russian  
> (though I would say the convention is relaxing somewhat among  
> English speakers).  There is a wonderful English expression, usually  
> directed at a child who has referred to someone by a pronoun rather  
> than by name:  "Who's she?  The cat's mother?"
>
> Kirsten Rutsala
> Assistant Professor of Russian
> Department of Modern Languages
> University of Oklahoma
> ________________________________________
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures  
> list [SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Nola  
> [oothappam at EARTHLINK.NET]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 6:28 PM
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Subject: [SEELANGS] Question about usage of names and social  
> convention
>
> A book I am using says: "Unlike in English, it is customary in  
> Russian to address an interlocutor by name on a regular basis in  
> normal or formal conversation."
> Does it mean when you are talking to somebody, during the  
> conversation you use their name a lot, such as :Yes, Paul, I agree.  
> Paul, have you got any idea what we are talking about here? Paul,  
> that's splendid.  -?
> OR does it mean...whe there is a conversation with more than 2  
> people participating, then when one refers to the one he is not  
> addressing, instead of saying "he", he will be named by name--
>
> for example: John,Paul, George and Ringo are all sitting at a table  
> having fish and chips and talking together . John says to Ringo  
> about  George:  "He always puts the salt shaker over there where I  
> can't reach it, the crazy bloke" , but Russians would go ahead and  
> say "George always puts the salt shaker over there where I can't  
> reach it"..even  though George is sitting right there and everybody  
> would know who "he" refers to.
> Is that  what it means?
>
>
> -Nola
>
>
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>
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