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ArchivesRe: meaning of name - Linda!
in reply to a message by Cleveland Kent Evans
Indeed. Not just names, of course, but words as well.
Are you familiar with the Zulu name Lindiwe? It is given to a girl child whose birth has been eagerly awaited, and it's often shortened to Lindi. Very Western-looking. But it is also possible to use Linda as a Zulu male name here, and about 15 years ago or maybe less a South African soccer team went to play in England. The sports journalists there couldn't believe their luck: Linda Buthelezi, playing for a male team! "Linda? But that's a bird's name!" He just stood there politely and let them have their fun, and once the match began he took out the leading England player of the day with a very tough tackle that, if I recall, broke his leg. (Probably did nothing to cause a Linda revival for English girls ...) But in South Africa there are parallel traditions: white girls are named Linda (or more usually Lindsay/Lindsey etc nowadays) and black boys are too, and nobody thinks anything of it. The twain never meet.
Are you familiar with the Zulu name Lindiwe? It is given to a girl child whose birth has been eagerly awaited, and it's often shortened to Lindi. Very Western-looking. But it is also possible to use Linda as a Zulu male name here, and about 15 years ago or maybe less a South African soccer team went to play in England. The sports journalists there couldn't believe their luck: Linda Buthelezi, playing for a male team! "Linda? But that's a bird's name!" He just stood there politely and let them have their fun, and once the match began he took out the leading England player of the day with a very tough tackle that, if I recall, broke his leg. (Probably did nothing to cause a Linda revival for English girls ...) But in South Africa there are parallel traditions: white girls are named Linda (or more usually Lindsay/Lindsey etc nowadays) and black boys are too, and nobody thinks anything of it. The twain never meet.
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