Sanjay Gupta! Shigetoshi Hasegawa! Boutros Boutros-Ghali!
From (St. Paul Pioneer Press) Bulletin Board, July 22, 2005
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Sanjay Gupta! Shigetoshi Hasegawa! Boutros Boutros-Ghali!
Wednesday's Bulletin Board included this note from W.i. Fly of Austin: "Many people have talked about earworms — songs that you can't get out of your head.
"How about names? I once had a neighbor in Iowa named Imogene Crouthamel. When a farmer friend of mine visited us, we introduced him to Imogene. He returned to Minnesota. He told me that when he was on his tractor in the field, all he could think of was that name IMOGENE CROUTHAMEL.
"Now I've got the same thing going. I don't drive a tractor, but all I can think of is Sanjay Gupta. He's the doctor who appears on CNN every time they need expert advice. Dave Letterman mentioned him in one of his routines one night. SANJAY GUPTA is a serious earworm."
Wrote peelmeagrape: "Funny! My husband and I are possessed, but in a good way, by the name Sanjay Gupta, from CNN. His name is the answer to every question: 'Guess who I talked to/met/saw today?' And his name is the first suggestion for every forgotten name in a story, until the correct name is remembered: 'It was nice to catch up with your family at the reunion this weekend. Lisa's kids are HUGE — both Nicole and … Sanjay Gupta?'
"It's a fun name to say."
And Blondie of West St. Paul: "It was W.i. Fly who was talking about names as earworms. Here's a name I love: Shigetoshi Hasegawa. He's a pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. Try saying that name five times fast!"
And Poet X of PDX: "For me, the name that also functions as an earworm is Boutros Boutros-Ghali, but I find it an enjoyable earworm. It sometimes visits when I hear the song 'Wooly Bully' (by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs). All together now: 'Boutros Boutros-Ghali and a wooly jaw. Wooly Bully. Wooly Bully.'
"I'll probably have to apologize for planting that association in others' heads — so I do so, pre-emptively."