Character Name Question for UK Folks

[AnyaKimlin]

It has to be Morris Minor - from a public school.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Only if Morris is the surname (which it usually is). Though I did know a Morris rather Maurice.

A teacher friend of mine had a Why-vonny in her class. Strangely the other pupils didn't think it odd. Her parents had seen Yvonne written down ...

Ronald, Howard and Victor used to be fairly posh UK names.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

or if you want him to travel down the social scale he could be Miner Morris of the deep dark pit.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

England's secret weapons of Mass Distraction!

Accordions ... and Morris Dancers!

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Actually I liked Austin Healy as a name and a car. And immediately I think of him as a person I think of some aristocratic gent with pretensions of grandure. That would be Austin Healy of the London Healy's etc (spoken with plum in mouth!)

But Ray no, I respectfully have to disagree. No car on Earth has ever been worse than the Vauxhall Viva. Some cars may be uglier. Possibly somewhere in a back end of communist Russia a few nameless creations may have been less reliable or had poorer build quality. There could be a couple out there with worse handling and and a poorer power to weight ratio. But overall I think the Viva takes it hands down.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Two stroke East German Wartburg. Two sets of points, no reverse gear, but did reverse. I think the composite (not actually cardboard) Trabant was better.
The Fiat 127 tended to disassemble, I was given one. I got a Garage to agree to keep it for battery & tyres in 1987. Breaks failed while travelling across Dublin with two USA Business men in back seat. I certainly would never have bought a Vauxhall Viva. I hated the van version issued to me in 1978 or 1979. I bought a Morris Marina van very cheap in 1982 or 1983 that was ancient and it was better. It ended as hutch for my two goats in 1984.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

,Jared Arrow - Red for short.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Wartburg? Well it absolutely wins the award for names! As for two sets of points I owned an old 1981 Nissan Silvia Gazelle once with the Z20 engine and it had a twin spark system. It made the car quite clean burning but did nothing for the power. Trabants have become cool - no viva ever will. And all Fiats are unreliable, but the 127 was actually relatively good looking at least and had some power compared to the viva.

As for reliability I owned my 1975 HC viva for a little over a year in 1982 / 3. I can't tell you how many times it had to go to the garage because the ring gear had got locked in the pinion or vice versa and the car wouldn't rock free. It lost all it's electrics - they rusted to death. The engine siezed completely at 80,000k despite having been fully reconditioned about 5k before that. The exhaust fell off in toto, rusted through. Took half the manifold with it. The radiator had to be replaced after being recored. The grill fell off as the clips rusted through - one of the headlights did the same. Gaskets of course never lasted more than a few months and the car burnt more oil than petrol. Two coil springs failed - one softened the other broke. Engine mounts perished so it couldn't pass its warrant. As I say I owned that car for a year and a bit. I think it actually worked for maybe a quarter of that time. And this was a well maintained car when I bought it with a fully reconditioned engine and not many miles on it.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Kylara]

Posh male name you say?
I know quite a few Nigels, Tom (Thomas) is still very popular as is Henry (Harry), got a few Conrads, lots called James...
Best places I can think to look would be name calls at places like Eton and Winchester College. Unfortunately most of the names I know are female (all girls school ) so Alexandra, Eliane, Isabelle, Camilla (Millsy/Mills), Elizabeth, Eloisa, Harriet etc etc. Probably not helpful for the males though!
I'll have a look through my address book for you for more of the man names

Oh and I know people with all of the names you put up (although not Auster - but I do know Astons and Austen and Austin - actually I know a lovely guy called Aston Martin and he is a very posh bloke who also drives a selection of Aston Martins ) Although all three Sebastian are Sebs

 

[Michael Colton]

It appears that Auster is one I saw in a book somewhere and assumed was real. There has been a universal 'that is a name?' response to it.

Much appreciate all the responses.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Yes, Nigel

 

[Ursa major]

Wartburg? Well it absolutely wins the award for names!

However, the name, Wartburg, has very different connotations in Germany. It's very significant in cultural terms, with strong links to religion**, poetry, pictorial art and music. Best of all, at least in my book, according to tradition,

the castle (Burg) got its name when its founder first laid eyes on the hill upon which the castle now sits; enchanted by the site, he is supposed to have exclaimed, "Warte, Berg -- du sollst mir eine Burg tragen!" ("Wait, mountain -- you shall bear a castle for me!"). It is a German play on words for mountain (Berg) and fortress (Burg).

(Sadly, fact undermines this tale of a punny name but, for me, comedy trumps reality.)


** - Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German when in hiding there; Luther's translation of the bible is said to have "created the modern German language".

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

And there was me picturing a giant iceberg shaped like a wart!

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Probably rubbish:
>>Die riesigen Eisberg wie ein Warzenförmigen ragte vor der Titanic <<