From Lose Friends Radio comes this ‘Believe it or not’ segment Number 18, called ‘Formerly known as Prince’. You can read the transcript below, or listen to the original broadcast by clicking on the green play button: [audio:Jonar_Nader_18_BION_Formerly_known_as_prince.mp3]
Believe it or not, according to Jonar Nader, when music superstar Prince changed his name to that symbol no-one could pronounce, everyone had an opinion about his attention-grabbing stunt.
Now, a young comedian in Ireland has changed his name by deed poll from ‘Robert Swanton’ to ‘Bill As In Jill’.That’s four words ‘Bill As In Jill’.
The local press suggested that this new name is as difficult to deal with as Prince’s efforts. Local journalist Mary O’Loughlin wrote in the ‘Times’, “I can see that it might be funny but, what does he expect his bank to write on a formal letter? And how would databases cope if we all decided to adopt such quirky names?”
Bill As In Jill has produced a style-guide which he prints on the back of his business card. He stresses that he does not want people to use his initials (which would form the acronym BAIJ) even though that’s his favourite colour. His style-guide also warns that he would not take kindly to being called ‘Mr Jill’. In formal circumstances, such as the aforementioned letter from the bank, he expects to see, ‘Dear Mr Bill As In Jill’.
Bill As In Jill said that he is setting a good example. He explained that Irish names are often puzzling. “The British and the Americans usually stumble on the pronunciations of our names,” he said. “It’s about time we considered others. It’s not fair and it’s not funny to have names that no-one can pronounce. I’m just making it easy.”
Believe it… or not.
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