(This is kind of cool, posted on FB by Denny Emerson. I am old enough to remember all these references. In horse sports they were meaningful ones. One who is conspicuously missing is “George.” But I can’t undo history.)

                                            People Names

Just as there are embedded place names, so there are names of horse people that are so unique to various groups that one word is all that it takes to identify the person.

Take “Rodney.” There are no doubt millions of Rodneys, past and present, but to USA jumper-oriented people, that one name has just one possible meaning.

Some of mine include “Victor.” As in Hugo-Vidal. Or “Froggie.” As in Jack LeGoff. Also just “Jack,” but the former is more colorful. “Bert,” to me, can only mean DeNemethy, just as “Kuz” means Kathy Kusner. There is only one “Bruce.”

“Jimmy” means Wofford, “Lucinda” means Prior-Palmer Green, “Billy” means Steinkraus, and so on and so forth. “MY” names also reveal a period of time, as will yours—-

Now if I were with a bunch of riders or drivers from other breeds or disciplines or from other countries, the names that are total house-hold names to them would be a mystery to me, just as “my” names are to them.

                                            In reply

(posted 8-4-21)

In the dressage world some iconic names also jump out: There is only one Robert, one Isabell, one Reiner. I can think of multiple Bengts but the relevant one is Ljungquist. Add Jessica and Steffen.

Elsewhere in sports: one Serena, one Tiger, one LeBron or Kobe or Magic. One triumvirate of “Mickey, Willie, and the Duke” especially if you’re a native New Yorker. Also one Deon, a single Rosey, a solitary Y.A.

In the world of dictators we’ve had Adolf, Osama, Mao, Ho, Idi, and Benito among others. I don’t include Uncle Joe, Franklin, or Winston because, well, WE won after all.

John, Paul, George, and the other guy head the music list. And then there’s Dino, Eddie, Felix, and Gene, but unless you’re a Little, you probably don’t recall their contribution to American culture.

Among the Donalds there is Rumsfeld  and Duck but only one THE Donald.

Unfortunately for me there are many Bills in the world: Gates, Murray, Cosby, Bailey, Mazeroski, and Buffalo among others. Putin may think he’s the only Vladimir like John thought he was the only Lenin, but we all know that Vlad and I are the only official Impalers.