Schneewind
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As editor of Journal of Chinese History, Sarah Schneewind asked me if I would do a review of this book: Documents géographiques de Dunhuang. Having done over three hundred reviews during my career, I try to decline them as much as possible at this stage. However, I succumbed to her offer because it was about Dunhuang and was by a French author, for both of which I have soft spots in my heart..
Jokingly, I wrote back: "In honor of your surname in these arctic times, Sarah, I will do the review."
She replied, "Vielen Dank, Victor! Ganz schön, dass meine Name etwas gilt!" ("Thank you very much, Victor! It's really nice that my name means something!")
Ahh! That gave me such a warm, bilingual feeling that I went upstairs and fell asleep without the customary shivers of the last couple of weeks. "Schneewind, wehe sanft."
Selected readings
- "'No word for X meets snowcloning" (11/20/20
- "Linguistic relativity: snow and horses" (4/15/25)
Benjamin E. Orsatti said,
January 30, 2026 @ 8:31 am
Thank you for that bit of onomastic serendipity. And then I get to thinking about the lawyers I know named "Sue" and Friars named "Neil", and wrestlers named Matt…
Philip Taylor said,
January 30, 2026 @ 9:00 am
On this side of the Atlantic, Benjamin, there is a very well known (and totally fictitious) firm of solicitors called Sue, Grabbit and Run. And now, although we have never met, you also know a horse-lover named Philip …
Seonachan said,
January 30, 2026 @ 9:24 am
The equivalent US firm is Dewey, Cheetham, & Howe.
Lynette Mayman said,
January 30, 2026 @ 10:10 am
I've not heard of this pun in the UK. Nor have I ever heard of last names Sue or Grabbit or Run. Dewey, Cheetham, and Howe are all legitimate names, however.
David Marjanović said,
January 30, 2026 @ 11:03 am
That's because it doesn't work in the UK, where dew is pronounced d + you, not d + oo like do is.
If you see people confuse do and due, they're from the US or Canada.
Lothar von Falkenhausen said,
January 30, 2026 @ 11:32 am
Pardonnez-moi quelques petites corrections, mais comme ceci est un forum de nature philologique, je tiens à remarquer que le mot "Name" est masculin en allemand. En outre, l'usage que Sarah fait de "ganz" ne s'accorde pas avec l'usage idiomatique. Il serait plus correct d'écrire: "Schön, dass mein Name etwas gilt" (ou, pour mieux saisir ce que Sarah voulait sans doute exprimer, "Wie schön, dass mein Name hier [alternativement: bei Dir/Ihnen, ou: in Deinen/Ihren Augen] noch etwas gilt.")
[J'écris cette note en français et en l'honneur des prédilections francophones de Victor. Bonne chance pour le compte-rendu des Documents géographiques, et meilleurs saluts de Bruxelles (où le Vent de Neige souffle moins fort qu'il ne semble le faire actuellement sur la côte est des États-Unis), Lothar]
Peter Grubtal said,
January 30, 2026 @ 12:56 pm
@Lynette Mayman
Sue, Grabbit and Run as I recall were very much an invention of the notorious satirical magazine Private Eye, which suffered much from the attentions of that profession.
jin defang said,
January 30, 2026 @ 1:06 pm
seems like Dunhuang got lost in this discussion.
Victor Mair said,
January 30, 2026 @ 1:50 pm
Merci beaucoup, Lothar.
Ryan said,
January 30, 2026 @ 2:12 pm
I'm not convinced a pun fails in English because of a palatization. Most puns are inexact.
Bybo said,
January 30, 2026 @ 5:46 pm
Je pense que « etwas gilt » n'est pas non plus ce que l'auteur probablement voulait dire. « Etwas gelten », légèrement formel, signifie à peu près « avoir une certaine valeur », tandis que « signifier qqc » se traduiserait plutôt par « etwas bedeuten » ou « eine Bedeutung haben ».
„Es freut mich, dass mein Name eine Bedeutung hat.“
Chris Button said,
January 30, 2026 @ 6:39 pm
I think enough kids in the UK grew up with "Huey, Dewey & Louie" to be very familiar and perhaps even more comfortable with the pronunciation of Dewey as Dooey.
Obrasci Besplatno said,
January 30, 2026 @ 6:40 pm
It’s funny how a name can carry such weight! Sarah’s response—'Ganz schön, dass mein Name etwas gilt'—is the perfect witty retort. This post highlights the 'onomastic serendipity' that linguists live for. It just goes to show that even after three hundred reviews, the right combination of a cold winter, a French author, and a thematic surname is still enough to overcome a scholar's resistance!