You're listening to Away with Words. I'm Grant Barrett.

And I'm Martha Barnett. When I was very young, my parents used to take me to a physician named

of all things Dr. Hurt.

Isn't that terrible?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Actually, he didn't. He was very, very nice, and maybe his name influenced his bedside manner. I don't know. But it sure got me to thinking about the power of names and also about aptronyms. Now, an aptronym, as you know, Grant, is a name that's particularly suited to its owner. Right. And I was reminded of aptronyms recently because we got an email from Peter Cesario.

Peter lives near Albany, New York,

and he and his family came up with a great game that

involves atronyms.

Ooh, do share. Well, picture this. You have a

newborn baby, and you have dreams of that child

entering a particular profession in adulthood.

So what do you name the child to help him along?

For example, you want her to be a wedding planner.

You'd name the child.

Mary.

Mary. Good. You want to do some more of these?

Oh, yes, please.

Okay. You have a newborn baby.

You want him to be a gas station attendant when he grows up.

You'd name him. Pumper? I don't know. Or maybe you want him to be a dentist. You'd name him. Oh, driller, drill. Filler. Phil. Phil. Phil. Phil. Oh, I see now. Still doesn't make me any smarter. How about this one?

Okay, shoot.

...