« It’s a book! | Home | French Frozen »
Bruyère by any other name
By Ann | January 19, 2010
Today’s post is dedicated to my friend, Heather — perhaps you recognize her name from the comments section. It’s a pretty name, Heather, isn’t it? In the United States, it was the eighth most popular name for baby girls of the 1970s, and tenth most popular of the 1980s. Too bad Heather’s parents didn’t know that she would grow up to become a French professor.
You see, the word “heather” is virtually unpronounceable by Francophones. There’s something about the aspirated “h” followed by the “th” combination that ties French tongues into knots. As a result, Heather has spent years in France hearing her name butchered. She’s learned to answer to “Ez-air,” “Ez-rrrrr” and many other variations.
As you probably know, the name refers to an evergreen, flowering plant indigenous to Scotland’s peaty landscape. In France, they call the plant bruyère (photo above), a word that Heather herself taught me. At first, I was incredibly impressed she knew such an arcane term. “You’ll see why,” she told me.
Out to dinner that evening, I introduced Heather to a French pal. “Je m’appelle Heather,” she told him.
“Ez-air? EZ-rrr?” he repeated unhappily.
“It’s a flower, the same thing as bruyère in French,” she told him.
Guess what he called her for the rest of the night?
“I just can’t remember what your English name is,” he told her.
Later, Heather assured me this was far from the first time that had ever happened.
“What’s in a name? That which we call heather by any other name — eg bruyère — would smell as sweet.” I’m pretty sure that’s an exact quote from the Bard’s mouth.
Topics: A year in a French market: Winter | 7 Comments »
7 Responses to “Bruyère by any other name”
Comments
« It’s a book! | Home | French Frozen »
January 19th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Ann, love it! Great photo. By the way, what does it say in small lettering? Bruyère 22 euros … très something????
January 19th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Well-it probably is unfortunate that we made the choice of the name Heather not bending to any on the whims of that time. Heather’s maternal grandfather had the middle name Heath and thus we came up with the name Heather. Heather was her grandfather’s delight. He was convinced that Heather should go to Wharton before she even turned two. Sorry that we did not know she would go on to become a French professor and the name would bring such consternation. Whatever her name she has always been our delight.
January 20th, 2010 at 2:03 am
ha! this is great! i suppose one could be called worse things than “bruyère”… have fun in miami, you guys!
January 20th, 2010 at 2:34 am
Truly hilarious. When I taught in a French school, the kids called me Christophaire. I never corrected them because I enjoyed the sound of it; everything is easier on the ear in French, n’est-ce pas?
January 20th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Cute! I must admit, I love being in France for the fact that I never have to spell my name for anyone. (Whereas in America…)
January 23rd, 2010 at 7:57 am
Bruyère — love your new handle! The sign says “très resistant, -2ºC.” Another attribute of heather — it’s tough!
Mrs Willis (Heather’s mom) — It’s a beautiful name — I hope my post didn’t cause you sadness… I like to tease Heather, because she’s so French in so many ways. Thank you for sharing the story behind Heather’s name — her grandfather sounds like a wonderful man and I bet he would sure be proud of his namesake today!
Erin — One of my favorites is Sha-sha. Short for Charlotte, of course.
Christophaire — Bennn, oui!
Camille — I love my name in French, too, if only because I get to use my middle name — Ann-Marie.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
I had the same thing happen to me in France, it was a great story. In German there is no ‘th” sound so I am called Heater, which is not so nice as Bruyere!
Heather