I mean, people are named Jesus (which always struck me as supremely aggrandizing)
Mr D
It is a common name in Spanish.
Eldritchy
I was quite shocked when I learnt that Gravity Falls’ Soos is named Jesus.
Hopeluminous
Isn’t it actually Zeus?
Eldritchy
Naah his full name is Jesus “Soos” Alzamirano Ramírez
MatsuoTanuki
Props to Alex Hirsch for wholesome Hispanic representation. ^_^ Soos is loyal, sweet, takes care of watches out for the Pine Twins whenever things get hairy, and ends the series with a healthy, stable relationship.
Eldritchy
Yup Soos is the Best Boy and he must be protected.
Rose by Any Other Name
I mean, no more so really that the ones named Mary.
Rose by Any Other Name
(or Noah, or Sarah, or Michael, or etc)
Deathjavu
I know in some traditions Mary could be close to the equivalent of Jesus, but even there it’s still a small side altar to Mary, and Jesus is front and center on the gigantic cross. The other names *definitely* don’t have the same weight.
Stifyn Baker
Would you feel the same way about people called Joshua? It’s the same name. ‘Jesus’ is simply what it looks like in Anglicised Latin – it’s more likely that his contemporaries called him Yeshu.
Mind you, it’s also quite an aggrandising name in Hebrew or Aramaic, given that in those languages it means “God will save us”.
King Daniel
Lot of old names tend to invoke the name of a deity, I’ve found. My own name means “God/El (it’s an old enough name that it uses the “El” name/title instead of “Yahweh” – as in Yeshua) is my Judge”.
King Daniel
Heck, there’s even a general term for invoking a deity’s name in one’s own: “Theophoric name”
deathjavu
Huh. I guess parents have always had unreasonable expectations for their children. “No pressure or anything but I named you after a deity.”
King Daniel
Yeah, I’ve always found the idea of theophoric names to be a little funny when viewed from that standpoint. 😛 Name etymologies can be fun!
(And while on the topic of theophoric names: did you know that Dorothy, Jonathan, and Godiva – among others – all mean the same thing [“God’s gift”] in different languages? Dorothea is Greek, Yehonatan is Hebrew, and Godgifu is Old English. That’s my Name Trivia of the Day!)
milu
so do Theodore (greek) and Matthew (hebrew). I mean, those sound like reasonable names for faithful parents to give their offspring, it’s not so much “we named you after a god” as “we’re super glad you were born” which is a nice sentiment =)
King Daniel
True, true. I never said “funny” was bad, mind, especially given that (even if I no longer consider myself particularly religious) I’m still fine with my own name’s theophoric history. 😛 Though at the other end of the scale in counterpoint to the “lite-theophoric” names which simply express gratitude like the above, you also have names like Hermione, Martin, and Dennis, which are modified and Anglicized versions of actual deific names Hermes, Mars, and Dionysus respectively – and that’s not even getting into how, say, Thor is still a pretty common Scandinavian name. 😛
milu
oh yah there definitely are shades of weirdness to naming your child in reference to some god ^^
One name i find especially fascinating, though not actually theophoric, is the Spanish female name Dolores. It’s like, “heyyyy welcome to this world cute little baby, you’re so gonna suffer”
which i guess is fair enough.
Chris
And then you get names like If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned.
King Daniel
“Jesus”, as a name, originates from the Greek transliteration (via an intermediary or two) for a name of Hebrew origin – Joshua/Yeshua, by no means an unheard-of name. Its Arabic counterpart, Isa, isn’t an uncommon name to my understanding either.
Raen
Yeah, but Jesus is actually called “Jesús” in Spanish, and “Isa” in Arabic (although of course he’s “only” a prophet to most Arabic-speakers); Jesus is only ever called “Joshua” (or even “Yeshua”) in English to make a point.
King Daniel
My point is that theophoric names are nothing new, unique to Christianity, or even to still-living religions (*cough*Nebuchadrezzar – “Nabu, protect my firstborn”). 😛
milu
oh god that was a scary sounding cough, you should get tested probably =P
Chris (the other one)
Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (Christóforos), which means “Christ” “bearer”
Eldritchy
All you have to look at is how many Thors were running around among Vikings…
Despite Rage
Wouldn’t that mean that Jesus Christ was actually named after the old testament Joshua?
King Daniel
Could be, though – like was mentioned – it was by no means a particularly uncommon name even back in the day.
DrunkenNordmann
I mean, Jesus (or Yeshua) was a pretty normal name back in the day – and last I checked, there’s nothing in Christianity forbidding people from having that or a similar name.
deathjavu
I know the name is fairly common everyone. I just think it’s weird to name your kid after the central figure of your religion and the son of god, thereby kind of implying that you are god. But I’m on the outside looking in so this is just “thing I find weird” #8,476.
StClair
“Please, God is my dad, just call me Josh.”
DrunkenNordmann
I mean, by that logic anyone called Muhammad is trying to imply they’re the Prophet.
Being named after somebody important to you (or your religion) is generally meant as a sign of respect.
Agemegos
Or, in English, “Joshua”.
KSClaw
At least it’s not a Puritan bible verse
Demoted Oblivious
Ooh, like the timeless classic:
“Thou shalt not commit adulterina”
Oh 1600’s puritans. You crazy!
Or Nicholas If-Jesus-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barbon”. Known as Damned Barbon to his friends.
milu
what the hell, what a bunch of weirdos!! My absolute favourites, like unironically, have to be “Notwithstanding Griswold” and “Maybe Barnes”! Awesome first names.
Also gotta appreciate this minister Adams guy who says, “[I]t is a petulant absurdity to give [children] ridiculous names the very rehearsing whereof causeth laughter.”
Solid take, bro
King Daniel
Don’t forget Humiliation Scratcher.
Demoted Oblivious
For the parents perhaps, but baby Jesus has little say in it when the paperwork was filled in.
Also, the pervy purple pederast from “The Big Lebowski” was a hey-Zoos.
Sombrero
Aggrandizing? A name with just five letters? What about Rhoshandiatellyneshiaunneveshenk then?
NO don’t save that typo in your dictionary you shit device
Casi
Jesus is just the latinized form of the hebrew Jeshua which became Joshua in most of the anglosphere. So there’s even more people named Jesus out there
NGL I’m kinda with you. It’s not that I don’t care what happens to them as individuals, but it is no longer pressing whether or not they are together. (Still curious as to what happened though.) I just hope that regardless of which route this takes, they end up in healthier relationships. And ya know. NOT with Asher.
I still care. I want them together. Their story is the best.
Geneseepaws
I was so inspired and hopeful for them. Ruth hit bottom, fell in love, and was motivated to invest in herself and getting better. I had such hopes that (then Billie) Jennifer would join suit. Ha!
I had hoped that at least seeing Ruth improve would start Jennifer down (up) that path,…. Ha! Still, I hope they get together in a health way.
thejeff
Which Jennifer did. In their last arc, which everyone seems to overlook.
She’d quit drinking, went through withdrawal and started therapy. And the indications are that she’s at least stayed sober, though we don’t know how long she stayed in therapy.
Any idea whether Asher was aware about how his “favor” for Blaine resulted in the kidnapping? Do any of the regular cast (Joyce, Sal, Amber) know that he was involved?
It would be an interesting story arc to see Asher’s role in the kidnappings revealed to the regular cast, with Jennifer having to make a choice… stick with a scumbag boyfriend, or break off with him once she knows her boyfriend played a part in harming so many of her friends.
As far as the actual comic depicts, Blaine didn’t tell him and Asher did so under threat of having his theft outed.
It’s possible that once the extent of Blaine’s crimes were revealed he organized the hit, because it went far, far deeper than he was expecting.
King Daniel
Yeah, Asher only even cooperated with the blackmail, from what we know, because Blaine told him nobody was going to be hurt.
Asher:“Well that was a fucking lie.”
Sirksome
I find this argument and any defense on Asher really flimsy. Blaine blatantly said he was looking to get revenge on Amazi-girl. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-9-comic/04-vote-for-robin/money-2/
Even if Asher took that as the truth from a guy that was blackmailing him (which would make him an idiot) that’s still throwing AG under the bus. He knew Blaine was up to some shit even if he didn’t know the details. He just cared more about saving his own skin.
I don’t think Asher is a villain *at least not in the traditional sense* but he is a bad dude who should not be trusted.
King Daniel
I mean, when we’re talking being blackmailed vis-à-visstealing money from the Mob, “saving your own skin” can be very literal. Mafia types discovering that someone has stolen money from them, often-ly speaking, can have slightly, uh, fatal consequences.
This isn’t aimed at you specifically — I’ve seen multiple people do this — but she goes by Jennifer now, and we should be calling her that. I know she’s just a fictional character and we’ve all known her as Billie for a really, really long time now, but she goes by a new name and it’s important to respect that.
Honestly just a small thing that’s been bothering me a lot, as someone who has changed her name before.
SolomonK
Which is why commenters should call Dorothy by her name and not by a nickname imposed on her by another character who is using it to try to misaffect her, yes?
He Who Abides
Ah, but Becky’s the one who came up with that nickname. That makes it totally appropriate /s
Spencer
I think it’s as simple as “Jennifer doesn’t want to be called by her childhood nickname anymore and we should respect that.” Becky calls her ‘Dotty’ because Becky likes coming up with nicknames (and this would be true regardless of her malice towards Dorothy) and Dorothy hasn’t really said “okay but please call me by full name instead” like I did when I was a kid where it bugged me getting called “Spence.” It’s just one extra syllable, it’s not that hard!
Seregiel
Dorothy actually has asked to be called by her full name…
233 thoughts on “Right/left”
Ana Chronistic
“Nope, gonna blame it all on Al Caholic”
Sirksome
Maybe it wasn’t alcohol. Maybe Ruth just got really salty when Jennifer stole her haircut!
Jamie
“Catholic” is a weird surname, Al.
Deathjavu
I mean, people are named Jesus (which always struck me as supremely aggrandizing)
Mr D
It is a common name in Spanish.
Eldritchy
I was quite shocked when I learnt that Gravity Falls’ Soos is named Jesus.
Hopeluminous
Isn’t it actually Zeus?
Eldritchy
Naah his full name is Jesus “Soos” Alzamirano Ramírez
MatsuoTanuki
Props to Alex Hirsch for wholesome Hispanic representation. ^_^ Soos is loyal, sweet, takes care of watches out for the Pine Twins whenever things get hairy, and ends the series with a healthy, stable relationship.
Eldritchy
Yup Soos is the Best Boy and he must be protected.
Rose by Any Other Name
I mean, no more so really that the ones named Mary.
Rose by Any Other Name
(or Noah, or Sarah, or Michael, or etc)
Deathjavu
I know in some traditions Mary could be close to the equivalent of Jesus, but even there it’s still a small side altar to Mary, and Jesus is front and center on the gigantic cross. The other names *definitely* don’t have the same weight.
Stifyn Baker
Would you feel the same way about people called Joshua? It’s the same name. ‘Jesus’ is simply what it looks like in Anglicised Latin – it’s more likely that his contemporaries called him Yeshu.
Mind you, it’s also quite an aggrandising name in Hebrew or Aramaic, given that in those languages it means “God will save us”.
King Daniel
Lot of old names tend to invoke the name of a deity, I’ve found. My own name means “God/El (it’s an old enough name that it uses the “El” name/title instead of “Yahweh” – as in Yeshua) is my Judge”.
King Daniel
Heck, there’s even a general term for invoking a deity’s name in one’s own: “Theophoric name”
deathjavu
Huh. I guess parents have always had unreasonable expectations for their children. “No pressure or anything but I named you after a deity.”
King Daniel
Yeah, I’ve always found the idea of theophoric names to be a little funny when viewed from that standpoint. 😛 Name etymologies can be fun!
(And while on the topic of theophoric names: did you know that Dorothy, Jonathan, and Godiva – among others – all mean the same thing [“God’s gift”] in different languages? Dorothea is Greek, Yehonatan is Hebrew, and Godgifu is Old English. That’s my Name Trivia of the Day!)
milu
so do Theodore (greek) and Matthew (hebrew). I mean, those sound like reasonable names for faithful parents to give their offspring, it’s not so much “we named you after a god” as “we’re super glad you were born” which is a nice sentiment =)
King Daniel
True, true. I never said “funny” was bad, mind, especially given that (even if I no longer consider myself particularly religious) I’m still fine with my own name’s theophoric history. 😛 Though at the other end of the scale in counterpoint to the “lite-theophoric” names which simply express gratitude like the above, you also have names like Hermione, Martin, and Dennis, which are modified and Anglicized versions of actual deific names Hermes, Mars, and Dionysus respectively – and that’s not even getting into how, say, Thor is still a pretty common Scandinavian name. 😛
milu
oh yah there definitely are shades of weirdness to naming your child in reference to some god ^^
One name i find especially fascinating, though not actually theophoric, is the Spanish female name Dolores. It’s like, “heyyyy welcome to this world cute little baby, you’re so gonna suffer”
which i guess is fair enough.
Chris
And then you get names like If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned.
King Daniel
“Jesus”, as a name, originates from the Greek transliteration (via an intermediary or two) for a name of Hebrew origin – Joshua/Yeshua, by no means an unheard-of name. Its Arabic counterpart, Isa, isn’t an uncommon name to my understanding either.
Raen
Yeah, but Jesus is actually called “Jesús” in Spanish, and “Isa” in Arabic (although of course he’s “only” a prophet to most Arabic-speakers); Jesus is only ever called “Joshua” (or even “Yeshua”) in English to make a point.
King Daniel
My point is that theophoric names are nothing new, unique to Christianity, or even to still-living religions (*cough*Nebuchadrezzar – “Nabu, protect my firstborn”). 😛
milu
oh god that was a scary sounding cough, you should get tested probably =P
Chris (the other one)
Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (Christóforos), which means “Christ” “bearer”
Eldritchy
All you have to look at is how many Thors were running around among Vikings…
Despite Rage
Wouldn’t that mean that Jesus Christ was actually named after the old testament Joshua?
King Daniel
Could be, though – like was mentioned – it was by no means a particularly uncommon name even back in the day.
DrunkenNordmann
I mean, Jesus (or Yeshua) was a pretty normal name back in the day – and last I checked, there’s nothing in Christianity forbidding people from having that or a similar name.
deathjavu
I know the name is fairly common everyone. I just think it’s weird to name your kid after the central figure of your religion and the son of god, thereby kind of implying that you are god. But I’m on the outside looking in so this is just “thing I find weird” #8,476.
StClair
“Please, God is my dad, just call me Josh.”
DrunkenNordmann
I mean, by that logic anyone called Muhammad is trying to imply they’re the Prophet.
Being named after somebody important to you (or your religion) is generally meant as a sign of respect.
Agemegos
Or, in English, “Joshua”.
KSClaw
At least it’s not a Puritan bible verse
Demoted Oblivious
Ooh, like the timeless classic:
“Thou shalt not commit adulterina”
Oh 1600’s puritans. You crazy!
https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/from-the-biblical-to-the-bizarre-puritan-names/
thejeff
Or Nicholas If-Jesus-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barbon”. Known as Damned Barbon to his friends.
milu
what the hell, what a bunch of weirdos!! My absolute favourites, like unironically, have to be “Notwithstanding Griswold” and “Maybe Barnes”! Awesome first names.
Also gotta appreciate this minister Adams guy who says, “[I]t is a petulant absurdity to give [children] ridiculous names the very rehearsing whereof causeth laughter.”
Solid take, bro
King Daniel
Don’t forget Humiliation Scratcher.
Demoted Oblivious
For the parents perhaps, but baby Jesus has little say in it when the paperwork was filled in.
Also, the pervy purple pederast from “The Big Lebowski” was a hey-Zoos.
Sombrero
Aggrandizing? A name with just five letters? What about Rhoshandiatellyneshiaunneveshenk then?
Ana Chronistic
What I find infuriating is the groen-ass adults unironically named Baby or Infant
What kind of a complex are you giving these folks
Ana Chronistic
Thanks phone
Grown-ass
NO don’t save that typo in your dictionary you shit device
Casi
Jesus is just the latinized form of the hebrew Jeshua which became Joshua in most of the anglosphere. So there’s even more people named Jesus out there
Cycy
for some reason, “Weird Al Catholic” doesn’t sound okay.
Suet
“Al? Well let me introduce you to Al Kaseltzer”
Deanatay
I’ve heard it pronounced “A AA A A Al Cahol”. Ik.
Sirksome
Meh. I’ve decided I don’t actually care about this anymore. I just don’t trust Asher. Ruth and Jennifer can do whatever they want.
Diana
NGL I’m kinda with you. It’s not that I don’t care what happens to them as individuals, but it is no longer pressing whether or not they are together. (Still curious as to what happened though.) I just hope that regardless of which route this takes, they end up in healthier relationships. And ya know. NOT with Asher.
BarerMender
I still care. I want them together. Their story is the best.
Geneseepaws
I was so inspired and hopeful for them. Ruth hit bottom, fell in love, and was motivated to invest in herself and getting better. I had such hopes that (then Billie) Jennifer would join suit. Ha!
I had hoped that at least seeing Ruth improve would start Jennifer down (up) that path,…. Ha! Still, I hope they get together in a health way.
thejeff
Which Jennifer did. In their last arc, which everyone seems to overlook.
She’d quit drinking, went through withdrawal and started therapy. And the indications are that she’s at least stayed sober, though we don’t know how long she stayed in therapy.
timemonkey
I’m glad they broke up, just hope they get over the drama soon so their stories can be about other things.
Segnosaur
Speaking of Asher…
Any idea whether Asher was aware about how his “favor” for Blaine resulted in the kidnapping? Do any of the regular cast (Joyce, Sal, Amber) know that he was involved?
It would be an interesting story arc to see Asher’s role in the kidnappings revealed to the regular cast, with Jennifer having to make a choice… stick with a scumbag boyfriend, or break off with him once she knows her boyfriend played a part in harming so many of her friends.
thejeff
We don’t know much about it. How much Asher knew ahead of time. As far as we know, no one else knows about his involvement.
Just Blaine and Blaine’s dead.
Spencer
As far as the actual comic depicts, Blaine didn’t tell him and Asher did so under threat of having his theft outed.
It’s possible that once the extent of Blaine’s crimes were revealed he organized the hit, because it went far, far deeper than he was expecting.
King Daniel
Yeah, Asher only even cooperated with the blackmail, from what we know, because Blaine told him nobody was going to be hurt.
Asher: “Well that was a fucking lie.”
Sirksome
I find this argument and any defense on Asher really flimsy. Blaine blatantly said he was looking to get revenge on Amazi-girl.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-9-comic/04-vote-for-robin/money-2/
Even if Asher took that as the truth from a guy that was blackmailing him (which would make him an idiot) that’s still throwing AG under the bus. He knew Blaine was up to some shit even if he didn’t know the details. He just cared more about saving his own skin.
I don’t think Asher is a villain *at least not in the traditional sense* but he is a bad dude who should not be trusted.
King Daniel
I mean, when we’re talking being blackmailed vis-à-vis stealing money from the Mob, “saving your own skin” can be very literal. Mafia types discovering that someone has stolen money from them, often-ly speaking, can have slightly, uh, fatal consequences.
Alex
When somebody blackmails somebody into something, I place the blame for the consequences squarely on the blackmailer.
Alex
Sweet, I got my favorite character on the first try.
Octopus Ink
Aw, c’mon… everyone knows vitriolic sarcasm equals True Love!
Clif
I know. Right? These two are made for each other.
Deanatay
With these two, it kinda does.
Kyrik Michalowski
I need to know what happened between them during the timeskip. Clearly something went down but until Willis shows us I’m blaming it all on Malaya.
Bryy
…. what if Rachel had something to do with it? Maybe that’s why Ruth brought Billie up at the hall meeting.
Kyrik Michalowski
Hmm, a plausible theory. I’m sticking with my blame Malaya strategy but it is possible.
ShellShock
Blaming Malaya is always a safe bet
Jenn
This isn’t aimed at you specifically — I’ve seen multiple people do this — but she goes by Jennifer now, and we should be calling her that. I know she’s just a fictional character and we’ve all known her as Billie for a really, really long time now, but she goes by a new name and it’s important to respect that.
Honestly just a small thing that’s been bothering me a lot, as someone who has changed her name before.
SolomonK
Which is why commenters should call Dorothy by her name and not by a nickname imposed on her by another character who is using it to try to misaffect her, yes?
He Who Abides
Ah, but Becky’s the one who came up with that nickname. That makes it totally appropriate /s
Spencer
I think it’s as simple as “Jennifer doesn’t want to be called by her childhood nickname anymore and we should respect that.” Becky calls her ‘Dotty’ because Becky likes coming up with nicknames (and this would be true regardless of her malice towards Dorothy) and Dorothy hasn’t really said “okay but please call me by full name instead” like I did when I was a kid where it bugged me getting called “Spence.” It’s just one extra syllable, it’s not that hard!
Seregiel
Dorothy actually has asked to be called by her full name…
Spencer
Then that’s a problem.
Seregiel
or not? Hrm.