Icelandic girl wins right to use her given name

[Viking]

How was "Bjork" feminine enough when "Blaer" wasn't? 

Björk is traditional while Blær isn't.

Björk is the icelandic name for the birch tree. I think pretty much all trees (except for the ash) are feminine. Ash and Elm are the norse equivalents of Adam and Eve. So while Eve might be the rib woman in judaism, in asatru the man is the woodman.

I've never used Blær in a sentence or ever heard it used so I don't know if it is feminine at all... though I'm leaning towards masculine, though that might just be because storm and wind are masculine. Iceland has birch trees but the wind never dies down enough to have a breeze.

[Josquius]

Blaer does sound rather like one of those modern American girls names to my ears at least. But then you furriners are funny.

[Caliga]

I'm not sure how I feel about this.  On the one hand, it bothers me that the government is trying to regulate what people name their kids.  On the other, there are certainly disturbed people out there who give their kids offensive names and the state has an certain degree of obligation to protect people from the inevitable abuse that'll come out of that.

For example, there was a case in New Jersey a few years back where these morons actually named their son Adolf Hitler.  I forget what the outcome of that was but it's a good illustration of the fact that sometimes government has to protect people from themselves (or their parents, I guess).

[Caliga]

Blaer does sound rather like one of those modern American girls names to my ears at least. But then you furriners are funny.

[Ed Anger]

And they say I find the worst pictures of chicks......

[Caliga]

And they say I find the worst pictures of chicks......

I have no vested interest in trying to make Lisa Whelchel look hot.

[Ed Anger]

I sense a facts of life poll later.

[Viking]

Blaer does sound rather like one of those modern American girls names to my ears at least. But then you furriners are funny.

the "æ" is prononuced just like the english personal pronoun "I" and the r is rolled... so pronounciation would be light

"Bligh" - rrrrrrr

as in the captain of the bounty and make a rolling r sound after the captains name.

[Viking]

btw, Blær is a masculin word, i checked.

[Caliga]

So in other words, it sounds like someone from Alabama pronouncing 'Blair'.

[Viking]

So in other words, it sounds like someone from Alabama pronouncing 'Blair'.

given that we have 14 different vowel sounds in icelandic, no it doesn't, but since Alabama (and new zealand) only have 1 then, yes it does.

[sbr]

I sense a facts of life poll later.

Jo.  Not even close.

[The Brain]

I have a lot more than 14 different bowel sounds.

[merithyn]

I sense a facts of life poll later.

Jo.  Not even close.

No Tootie love?

[Admiral Yi]

Was Tootied the black one or the one with a face like an ass?