Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Down With St. Patty's Day!

It's not what you think, I love St. Patrick's Day. What I object to is the neutering of St. Patrick. Patty is a female name, for crying out loud. There are two acceptable nicknames for Patrick: Pat or Paddy. Patty is short for Patricia. Am I the only person in the USA who goes ballistic when I see "Happy St. Patty's Day" plastered on blogs or, worse, on Cable TV? Aargh!

For an interesting and "revealing" look at the real St. Patrick, check out David Plotz's article at Slate Magazine.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Linda

11 comments:

Barbara Martin said...

Linda, they may have mistaken 'Paddy' for 'Patty'. But I agree with you.

Teresa said...

I like the linked article about St. Patrick. I am afraid that in this day and age of "unisex" names where one never knows what gender an "Ashley" or a "Cameron" may be, St. Patty might be just as masculine as a St. Paddy :).

Maureen Child said...

Yay you, Linda!! That drives me insane, too! Up the Irish!

Linda McLaughlin said...

Barbara and Teresa, I think it's more that Paddy is rarely used in the US, but it still shows a deplorable lack of research, IMO. (Sorry, but we historical writers get on our high horses every now and then.)

Maureen, I'm glad I'm not the only one driven batty by St. Patty. ;)

Travis Erwin said...

Thanks for the education. I may have been one of the offenders as i never realized this.

Kathleen Rowland said...

That's right, Linda. It's St Paddy's Day! I do think Green Bagel's are cute, though.

Linda McLaughlin said...

Travis, I think most Americans are unaware since Paddy isn't a common nickname here. It's just a pet peeve of mine.

Kathleen, I'm good with green cookies and cupcakes, but not sure about the green bagels, and as for green beer, WTF? I really don't see the point in that.

Anonymous said...

Let's paint over all those lousy T's with D's. That'll show 'em!

pattinase (abbott) said...

And here I thought for once the females had triumphed in seizing some luck.

pattinase (abbott) said...

And here I thought for once the females had triumphed in seizing some luck.

Kathleen Rowland said...

Linda, on the subject of "coloring things" (green bagels and beer) to market them for a particular holiday, I can remember one particular Easter when my mom brought home live baby chicks. These adorable Easter colored chicks were soon relocated to my grandparents' farm and lived with regular chicks in the coop.