What's In a Name?
A recent 'Question for Thom': Hey TH, what's with this propensity of fulltimers to apply human names to inanimate objects?
You know, I've noticed this too. In fact, it's become so endemic that it's hard not to notice. It seems that it really doesn't matter what thing it is, if it's in or near the RV, it's a target for this naming phenomenon -- cars, trucks, RV, motorcycles, electronic gizmos, appliances, and on and on.
After pondering this for a while, I think it might derive from loneliness, or boredom, or terminal cuteness, or, perhaps an attempt at humor. In reality, it's probably some combination of all of the above. Come on, how can I be lonely or bored when I have Mr. Hoover (my vacuum cleaner) to help me clean, or Mr. Dell (my laptop computer) to help me with my email and paying my bills, or Philomina Blacktank (!!???) to hold and protect my wastes, or Old Blue (my bicycle) to take me for rides, or Buffy (my electric buffer) to put a shine on the camper, or Winnie Winegard (my TV antenna) to help me tune into my favorite TV shows? And let's not forget Sabrina, the voice in my GPS, who tells me where to go -- which Dar also does from time to time. All you've got to do is read a few blogs produced by fulltimers and you'll soon be caught up in this anthropormorphic web. Before long, you'll be on the bandwagon and your truck will become Miss Daisy (driving Miss Daisy... get it?).
Oh, and what about the truly meaningful real people in their lives? Well, there's a convention among fulltimers that the female spouse or partner becomes simply "the DW" and the male becomes "the DH". What's with that? For a long time I thought DW meant DishWasher and DH stood for DaHunk. But recently, my DW, in her unique way of dealing with my occasional ignorance, let me know that DW actually means Dear Wife and DH, yes, Dear Husband. I think I'll remember this long after the lump on my head goes down.
T
You know, I've noticed this too. In fact, it's become so endemic that it's hard not to notice. It seems that it really doesn't matter what thing it is, if it's in or near the RV, it's a target for this naming phenomenon -- cars, trucks, RV, motorcycles, electronic gizmos, appliances, and on and on.
After pondering this for a while, I think it might derive from loneliness, or boredom, or terminal cuteness, or, perhaps an attempt at humor. In reality, it's probably some combination of all of the above. Come on, how can I be lonely or bored when I have Mr. Hoover (my vacuum cleaner) to help me clean, or Mr. Dell (my laptop computer) to help me with my email and paying my bills, or Philomina Blacktank (!!???) to hold and protect my wastes, or Old Blue (my bicycle) to take me for rides, or Buffy (my electric buffer) to put a shine on the camper, or Winnie Winegard (my TV antenna) to help me tune into my favorite TV shows? And let's not forget Sabrina, the voice in my GPS, who tells me where to go -- which Dar also does from time to time. All you've got to do is read a few blogs produced by fulltimers and you'll soon be caught up in this anthropormorphic web. Before long, you'll be on the bandwagon and your truck will become Miss Daisy (driving Miss Daisy... get it?).
Oh, and what about the truly meaningful real people in their lives? Well, there's a convention among fulltimers that the female spouse or partner becomes simply "the DW" and the male becomes "the DH". What's with that? For a long time I thought DW meant DishWasher and DH stood for DaHunk. But recently, my DW, in her unique way of dealing with my occasional ignorance, let me know that DW actually means Dear Wife and DH, yes, Dear Husband. I think I'll remember this long after the lump on my head goes down.
T
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