Your RDA of Irony

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I was going to write about the Oklahoma Land Rush, which probably would have meandered into discussions of slave-owning Indian tribes who fought for the Confederacy, a dreadful novelist named Edna Ferber, and the inexplicable existence of a Naval ROTC at the University of Oklahoma.

But we have a breaking news story….

On behalf of the census, the Social Security Administration and the future, I would like to welcome Benjamin Wyatt Miller to the world.  As I probably would admit to a grand jury, I am a friend of Master Miller’s grandfather–the somewhat inestimable Bob Kincaid.    So I can imagine what a dismaying annoyance Bob was in choosing the child’s names.  Ancient Scot that he is, Bob still feels some allegiance to the Stuarts; so he might have campaigned for a moniker like MacClaymore Caledonald.  On other the hand, Bob would want his grandson’s name to reflect American history and culture:  Civil Liberty Valance.  (Bob is convinced that  John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart shot Lee Marvin only because he was the town Democrat.)  Of course, Bob did consider the possibility of a granddaughter and he wanted a name that would determine her political preferences;  Newdelia.

Nonetheless,  Benjamin Wyatt makes a good name–even if it is an incongruous pairing.  Benjamin is a Hebrew name, meaning son of the right.  This would suggest that Benjamin was a Paleo-Neo-Con, but it really was his father Jacob’s attempt to improve the boy’s self-image.  The child was originally  named Benoni which loosely translates to “you pathetic loser, you killed your mother in childbirth.”  Somehow, Benjamin seemed a kinder name.

Wyatt originally was the Angle-Saxon name Wigherd.   If meant literally,  a herd of  wigs in Angle-Saxon England would confirm the existence of the medieval Rotary Club; that horrifying revelation could be the plot of the next Dan Brown novel.  However, Wighard actually means “war-hardy.”  Of course, if the Angle-Saxons really were that “wigherd”, the Normans couldn’t have changed the name to Wyatt.  (In hindsight, Hastings might prove a luckier name.)

In any case, welcome to the world Benjamin Wyatt Miller.  Your honorary great-uncle Eugene will help you with your history homework.

  1. M Cullen says:

    The young Master Miller is very lucky to have such a fine upstanding Grandfather and a wonderful Grandmother Agnes. Having you, honorary great-uncle Eugene, just adds more spice to the mix.
    Congratulations to Bob and Agnes.

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