The é in Cléa
CBMUSED at 10:42 am Category: Blue Ink, GeneralTags: accent, acute accent, cbmused, Cléa, nom de plume, pen name
What’s in a name?
bemused - adj (Source)
- deeply absorbed in thought;
- perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements;
Back when I was on the Blogger platform, I went by the name of Bemused. It reflected my state of mind at the time and mirrored the name of the blog.
But having a name that’s an adjective didn’t feel personal. So with the move to my personal domain, I searched for a new pen name.
Choosing a nom de plume was no easy task. I had to be proud of it. I had to relate to it in a way that it would become me.
After much searching, I stumbled across Cléa; its origins are explained in the About page. It held a certain delicate and feminine appeal to which I could relate. It could become me.
Cléa… I spent an entire weekend repeating it in my head, and although I would never hear it spoken, I liked the sound. The accent, with its French flavour and my interest in languages, highlighted the correct pronunciation, Cléa (Clé-ya) and not Clea, (Clee-ya).
I was faced with a dilemma. I knew the accent would be difficult to type and many would choose to omit it. So I asked the opinion of a good friend who told me beyond doubt to use the accent, as it was more me. I concurred. As for the é, as long as it was pronounced correctly, even when read in silence, I didn’t mind if the acute accent was dropped. Ce n’est pas grave*… if you pardon the French pun.
When this site was launched in February and I adopted Cléa as my nom de plume, some readers were kind enough to ask how to type the accent. I simply said, do as I do, ‘copy and paste’ from the sidebar. Recently I learnt that Alt-0233 does the job nicely.
I didn’t have the expectation that readers would use the accent, yet every time I see it, it makes me smile with gratitude, and I hear my name echo…
Cléa.
* Literal meaning - It’s not grave. It’s no big deal. Figurative meaning- It’s not a grave accent (è)
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:44 am
This post was inspired by a comment made by GeneralBoy here. And thanks to Peefer who suggested the use of Alt-0233 to create the é in Cléa.
Does your choice of (pen) name tell a story?
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:16 am
Thanks for the alt tip! You are now Clea with an é on my sidebar! Very cool.
Does my name tell a story? I think that for a long time, I tried being someone I wasn’t. I was never satisfied with me. I’ve come to the realization that my life is so much easier and simpler when I accept me for who I am. I suppose that’s where “essentially me” came from.
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Yes - my name tells a story. I don’t know that it is a good story, and in the early days of blogging I thought about changing it. But after a year and a half - “GSR” has kind of grown on me.
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:40 pm
My choice of (pen) name hides a story.
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:55 pm
EM: I really liked your name the first time I came across it. And now that I understand what’s behind it, it suits perfectly.
And thank you for the é linky
GSR: I admit I had trouble relating to the Reject part in GSR since you’re so intelligent. I find GSR unique to you in the blogosphere (and it’s a brand of car as well).
Peefer: I thought yours was a rhyme. I might need to dig through archives to see if I find that story.
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I was born with an adjective for a surname. Not only that, it is an incredibly pretentious surname, and one that comes loaded with expectations (and very tired jokes). If I had the option to drop the adjective, I would probably do it. At least some days.
Anyway, thanks on the Alt-string of numbers thing. I was sticking to the copying and pasting as well. So, if Cl[alt-0233]a had a surname, what would it be?
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I have a laundry list of ALT number combinations stuck in my head. It’s actually much easier to use them than to copy/paste in my mind, mais c’est la vie. Sadly I can probably ramble a whole bunch of them off here, but I prefer to bore people on my blog and not yours. Thanks for the explanation.
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Casey: All I can say is that I hope the name Casey doesn’t make the adjective surname any worse.
Cl[alt-0233]a rocks!
Interesting question… I was thinking along the lines of a 2 word surname, as in “De Veers” not a hyphenated surname.
Cléa de BeMused
Cléa B Mused
Now you got me thinking…
égan: I’m a left handed Ctrl-c Ctrl-v copier/paster with a right handed mouse clicker, not too difficult to coordinate. Does that sounds like too much info?
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I suppose it makes sense, but you still have to find what to copy/paste. Yeah, I hear you though as the CTRL shortcuts do save you heaps of time. I’m all about keyboard shortcuts. ALT + S to send emails and ALT + W to forward. I should stop before this starts to send like a class. Nobody wants a class taught by yours truly. Wait one more, I love the Windows key + M to show desktop. It’s très utile.
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:40 pm
égan: I admit tat I’m a point and click girl, love my mouse and keyboard shortcuts often have a retro feel to them. Basically, I’m lazy. That’s why I never expected anyone to use the é in Cléa. But I just had to try to Window +M - c’est très cool. Merci. You’re a good teacher.
April 4th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Sweet! I had no idea about the alt thing. Good info to know. I probably could have figured it out if I went looking for how, but I”m lazy like that and have resorted to the copy & paste. But now I shall try the alt trick.
As for the accent, I completely understand. My middle name is René…but I usually just leave the last e blank because I never knew how to type it with the accent. But it always annoys me when I see it without the accent.
April 4th, 2008 at 4:39 am
That’s one my favourite shortcuts aside from the ALT/Tab one. That one is critical so I appear to be working more than I am.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:44 am
I would assume that the name is some French version of the Greek muse, Clio.
But I am too lazy to look it up.
I am going to New Orleans, though, and a drive through the Garden District is an automatic mnemonic device for remembering Greek muses, since the streets are named after the Greek muses–ending in Saratoga.
I can’t remember what Saratoga was in charge of–maybe the togas for the toga parties?
April 4th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Speaking of “mnemonic”–the muse’s mother’s name was, Mnemosyne.
Clea’s not a very popular name, dude:
http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html
April 4th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Sicilian: Such a lovely name! Is it René or Renée? I’ve come across the former for males and the latter for females.
égan: I bow to the Alt-Tab.
Zen: As usual you’re correct. As I mentioned in the About page, it is a derivative of both Clio, the Muse of History and Cleo(patra) though not sure if it is French.
Saratoga sounds like a wild place. Watch out for bed sheets…
Zen: Mnemosyne is a mouthful. As for the name Cléa not being popular, that’s the reason I picked it over others. Nothing like having an unusual name. And that site kept me busy for a few minutes looking up my real name. At least that was there!
April 4th, 2008 at 10:29 am
I would say that enough words in life are simplified and compacted. Extreme becomes Xtreme becomes X-(whatever nacho cheese flavored product one is trying to sell). Pseudo become fake, Décolletage becomes “I think I can see her boobs”. As follows naturally, pseudodécolletage becomes “Those aren’t real.”
It is no crime to savor words; to roll them around thoughtfully before lying them down in just the right place.
April 4th, 2008 at 10:39 am
My ageing Mac has travelled with me to several countries. It has a French keyboard, which means I can quickly easily identify Cléa’s accent.
As for the ‘real’ voice behind Cléa and her accent–that must, I imagine, remain mysterious…
April 4th, 2008 at 10:52 am
You know, I may know a lot of shortcuts and hotkeys, but the alt-0233 still escapes me. So for that, I still use the ctrl-c and ctrl-v. Pronouncing your name too isn’t a problem. I always find myself calling your name out loud or in my head everytime I write a comment or reply to one of yours. Somehow I imagine you replaying back to me with a purr. Me and my fantasies.
My name however tells a long-(ish) story. The gist of which are on my own about page. Let’s just say I stand up for what I trust and have faith in. The rest is a matter translation.
April 4th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Mahd: A man of words and wit, hello and welcome :).
I’m quite taken by your “pseudodécolletage”, well not yours personally, but those translations are delicious. So is your metaphor.
Simon: Your ageing Mac sounds like connoisseur. I wonder what stories it can tell…
As for the voice behind Cléa, did you get the audio to work? Nobody has mentioned it so far.
Kami: I’m the same, I say people’s names when I type comments. But me purr? That’s so funny!
Re your name, I hope you don’t mind me calling you Kami instead of Kamigoroshi. It sort of seems more personal, and yes, I’m lazy.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
You know I don’t mind you calling me Kami Cléa, I too shorten names so that it rolls off my tongue easier. You always roll off my tongue with class and a zesty feel. That’s why I imagine you replying with a purr. Again, that’s my mind at work.
April 5th, 2008 at 1:12 am
It’s René with one e. I’m not quite sure why Mom chose that name and that spelling…other than I think she was obsessed with French things at the time. She originally wanted my first name to be Chantelle, but Dad didn’t like that one (although, I think that he didn’t know the meaning of it…had he known maybe he would have felt differently about it since their means of income at the time was singing). But it’s probably for the best because I don’t think I’m a Chantelle at all.
As for the Alt+Tab…I agree with Egan - that shortcut is very, very critical. Especially considering I have people who constantly walk behind me.
April 5th, 2008 at 4:03 am
My name tells the following story:
“So, what’s your name?”
“Jarod”
“Jerry?”
“No, Jarod” (accents the D)
“Jarold?”
“No. Jarod” (eccents D again)
“Ah, nice to meet you Jerry”
- end
April 5th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Oh, paired with Casey, it has a resonance that really limits my harelip and tongue tied marriage options.
April 5th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Ahhhh, see having an accented character named family member I was already used to it! I always thought the name looked, well, wrong without the accent - like it was dumbed down in some way. And as for people who delberately alter the spelling to make the accent redundant… philistines!
No incredibly deep or revealing story behind my pseudonym I’m afraid - it’s taken from a a character cooked up by 80’s new wave band Devo ( I used to use The General as my avatar but I think it confused people… they actually thought I looked like that!! ), and is a slight pun on my overused phrase “in general”.
April 5th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Kami: I’ve just realised that I don’t often shorten names, nor do I like using shortened real names, but in this case Kami seemed to suit more than Kamigoroshi. Names and purring… not what I had in mind when I adopted the name Cléa!
Sicilian: I like some French names, and I’d take Renée / René anytime over Chantelle. I agree that it suits you more
Hail the Alt-Tab. I’ve used it and seen others use it. You can always tell when someone has just alt-tabbed, by the look on their face
Jarod: That’s just ignorance. Jarod and Jerry are so different, and while I wouldn’t say it’s a very common name, it’s not uncommon or difficult either. I’d go and call them by something else, just to prove a point. Let’s face it, names are personal, and if someone can’t be bothered getting them right, what sort of person are they?
Casey: Hmm… this makes me curious. But look at it this way, she doesn’t have to take your name, unless it really means a great deal to both of you.
Gboy: Funny you say it looks wrong without the accent, because that’s how it’s registering with me when I see it (elsewhere), though I’ve only been using it for 2 months.
As I mentioned before, Devo’s Whip It is one of my 80s favourites! I had a look at your archives, back on the old site, and I never imagined you as the old guy in the avatar. ‘Gboy’, as you use it here, has a certain appeal. Me likey
April 5th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Cléa A damn fine name! Is it Irish?
April 6th, 2008 at 12:01 am
I suppose not Cléa, but then again, names become us.
I do find it interesting why you say Kami suits me more than Kamigoroshi.
April 6th, 2008 at 5:29 am
Tu as raison Cléa avec le visage d’une personne qui vient d’utiliser ALT/Tab. The face truly does say it all.
April 6th, 2008 at 11:05 am
JW: Thank you, I’m rather fond of it :). I believe the origins are Greek, as in it being the Cleo/Clio derivative.
Kami: They certainly do. I’m sure I would answer to Cléa in public.
This will sound weird, but Kamigoroshi doesn’t sound too human, more like a name of an object of sorts, while Kami sounds more like a person. Told you it’s a weird explanation.
égan: I’ve caught many of my team doing the Alt-Tab so I can pick it. Et tout cela en français me donne l’envie d’écrire un blog post en français! I might end up writing a French blog post, with translation, if I can still remember…