A woman named Annie shared a mini-rant about name jokes and opened a floodgate for others |
As someone named Annie, I've spent decades fielding jokes made about my name, from references to "Little Orphan Annie" to "Annie Get Your Gun" to "Little Annie Oakley" to everyone's favorite lyric from Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal." So when a fellow Annie shared a public message on behalf of all of us, I'd never felt more seen:
"Hi, I speak for all women named Annie when I say this. Yes, we are okay. Yes, we know the sun will come out tomorrow. No, you are not clever for making those connections. Yes, I have heard it every time I meet a new person. You are not the smooth criminal who struck me. Thank you."
If I had a nickel for every time I've heard, "Annie, are you okay?" and a dime for everyone who followed that up with, "I bet you never hear that, huh?" I'd be a wealthy woman. Obviously, there are more important things in the world than having your name become a meme, but it is mildly annoying to hear the same jokes over and over again your entire life, politely pretending that whoever is telling it this time is oh-so-clever. (Though, I will say, the commenter who wrote, "On behalf of everyone I just want to thank you for your white cheddar shells," did make me laugh.)
Apparently, Annie's mini-rant hit a nerve, not just with other Annies but with everyone whose name comes with the same pop culture references over and over.
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The comments are filled with people pointing out the repeated name jokes they've spent their life putting up with, and it's wild how many there are:
"Hi, I speak for all women named Jenny when I say...my number is not 867-5309, you do not, in fact, have my number.
You can be fooled by the rocks that I've got, because I'm not, I'm not Jenny from the block."
"Yes. I'm a Tiffany. And no, we're not alone now."
"Similarly, no I will not beam you up. Also, I do know." – Scotty
"And here I am just wondering why people keep asking me where my lamb is and concerned about how my garden grows…" – Mary
"Joelene here. Yes, I will steal your man. All your men. They’re mine now."
"Hi Annie, I'm a white girl named Becky....."
"On behalf of all A-A-rons, it's not funny anymore."
A famous Key and Peele skit ruined Aarons forever. Giphy
"Chiming in for all Jakes here. We've seen the commercials. Yes, khakis, very clever."
"As a Maria, I'm very tired of people always singing my name. Too many damn songs with my name in it and it drives me insane how often it happens."
"My name is Hannah and my last name isn’t Montana and I know it’s a palindrome and also I am not a banana. I give it all a pass usually (with the palindrome I get to pretend to be Woo Young Woo) but I’m kind of done with the banana thing."
"Try being a man named Jesse and having people tell you they wish they had your girl. 😑"
"And are you saying that not all Roxanne's are working the street for money???"
"As a Felicia - quit saying bye. It’s old."
"As a Sam, I would like to travel back in time and assassinate Dr. Seuss so I feel you."
"As a Luke, the next person that claims to be my father owes my mother child support."
Poor Luke. Giphy
"Jagger here. No, I don’t have the moves."
"I feel it. My name’s Victoria. I get asked about my secrets a lot."
"As an Eileen, I already know I have to not be a klutz or else I get people singing Come On Eileen."
"As a Robin, please don’t 'tweedle dweedle deet' at me, or ask me where Batman is. I am not rockin’ and I truly don’t know."
"Feel ya girl. My name is Brandi. Used to work at a golf course club as a bartender/drink cart girl. The amount of times I’ve gotten 'you’re a fine girl?' Or 'what a good wife you would be' I got to the point where I’d avoid saying my name. 😭 Yes, I’ve heard THAT song before sir! & I love it so stop ruining it for me."
It may seem silly, but whether a name is connected to a popular cultural reference is something parents might want to consider when choosing names for their kids. While occasional jokes aren't the end of the world, sometimes it can be a genuine issue, as one person shared:
"As I’ve gotten older, I can deal with the annoying 'Sweet Caroline' references, but as a kid, it would make me so uncomfortable when adults would start enthusiastically singing it to me. My parents let me go by my middle name for a lot of my childhood because people really don’t listen when a kid says they’re uncomfortable, but of course, people would ignore that and demand my 'real name' and the cycle would start again."
Of course, name memes can't be predicted, as the people in the comments named "Isis" and "Tesla" can attest. And learning to take these things in stride probably builds character or something. But it is good to keep in mind: when you feel tempted to make an obvious name joke, the person on the other end has probably heard it a million times and might be over it.
As an Annie, I'm telling you: I'm okay. But I'm over it.
Ribal Zebian, a student from the city of London in Ontario, Canada, already made headlines last year when he built an electric car out of wood and earned a $120,000 scholarship from it. Now, he's in the news again for something a little different. Concerned with homelessness in his hometown, Zebian got to work creating a different kind of affordable housing made from fiberglass material. In fact, he’s so confident in his idea that the 18-year-old plans on living in it for a year to test it out himself.
Currently an engineering student at Western University, Zebian was concerned by both the rising population of the unhoused in his community and the rising cost of housing overall. With that in mind, he conjured up a blueprint for a modular home that would help address both problems.
Zebian’s version of a modular home would be made of fiberglass panels and thermoplastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foam. He chose those materials because he believes they can make a sturdy dwelling in a short amount of time—specifically in just a single day.
“With fiberglass you can make extravagant molds, and you can replicate those,” Zebian told CTV News. “It can be duplicated. And for our roofing system, we’re not using the traditional truss method. We’re using actually an insulated core PET foam that supports the structure and structural integrity of the roof.”
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Zebian also believes these homes don’t have to be purely utilitarian—they can also offer attractive design and customizable features to make them personal and appealing.
“Essentially, what I’m trying to do is bring a home to the public that could be built in one day, is affordable, and still carries some architecturally striking features,” he said to the London Free Press. “We don’t want to be bringing a house to Canadians that is........