paulo
Yeah, I know that, I was just being "funny" - it is kind of ironic and I hear what you're saying, but by the same token I couldn't really take anyone seriously who could be offended by anyone using their own given name - that's just PC gone way too far. If you don't like the name yourself, then fair enough, but you shouldn't have to apologise for it.
Yeah, I got that. :) Oh I don't bother much w/ offending people. It's more a matter of self-respect. Actually, back home in French Canada, Christian, though it is an obvious reference to Christ, is not the word that's used for, uh, christians - the word is "chrétiens".
Actually, there isn't much anything back home that isn't a reference to christianity, catholicism or saint. Half the streets are named after saints, the majority of the little towns are also named after saints, and, until very recently, pretty much everyone was baptized according to the catholic rites - unless they were from another denomination, which is pretty rare.
Here it's a different story though, and many find mine a "such a lovely name". Not that I mind. I just
prefer to not use it. That's actually what I meant, that the christian reference bothered
me.
And I must admit I never was particularly fond of it. In the years when I grow up, two successive very popular TV shows had outrageously gay characters named "Christian". Top that with the fact that my mother forced me to take dance lessons (
a physical sense of rhythm's good for musicians she used to say - and as much as I hated it, knowing my Triple Swing from my Cha Cha from my Meringue indeed came in handy when I later started playing dance halls) and the fact that I was a solitary and on the skinny side and it's easy to imagine that I was an easy target for other kids to rip on for a while. Nothing out of the ordinary, mostly just poking, but annoying nonetheless.