What’s in a Name?

What’s in a Name?

That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet

Well, yes.  There is that.  But once you hear (or see) something named it’s difficult to separate the thing from the name.  At least it is for me.  And names can be so evocative that it becomes difficult to imagine something not as exotic as a name would suggest.

I thought about this when cinnamon reviewed the Guccis, particularly The Voice of the Snake.  Now, I dunno about you but when I first read that name (back when they first came out) I was sooo intrigued – the idea of an exotic, raspy, dry-as-dust reptilian voice… Kaa from Kipling’s The Jungle Book first came to mind, when he nearly snared Baloo and Bagheera, with his figure 8s and his raspy, hypnotic voice.  I imagined a modern, reimagined Djedi, a dark cave…maybe some cast-off snake skins (which do have a smell)… that living, reptilian smell (I have a herpetologist hobbyist friend – her ‘Snake Room’ smells ‘specific’)..  alas, much as cinnamon’s experience mine was…. Eh. Certainly it did not live up to what the name conjured.

There are so many others, not all ‘eh’ , but all of them are driven by the name.  Annie Vannier’s Romea d’Ameor perfume line (what happened to that line?  Try as I might, can’t find a website, so the fabulous Fragrantica it is) always springs to mind when I consider this.  It’s a brilliant concept, the entire line based upon important women in history (types (or a certain class?), not a specific woman, which makes it even more intriguing).  And I absolutely ADORE the tippy-shaped bottles but love them more en masse than separately because of the colored tassels (but that is for yet another post, how easily I can be swayed by an accessorized bottle.  Sigh)…

But those names!  That is a LOT of heavy lifting for a perfume.

Consider:  The Great Empresses of Japan.  The Sovereigns of Egypt. The Princesses of Venice, et al.

Those names conjure such impressions!  The Princesses of Venice (from back when it was a city-state) … I can imagine Venice, the epicenter of trade and the gateway to Asia…gorgeous women in gorgeous silk gowns, crossing intricately tiled floors to their private gardens overlooking the canals….

What on earth could that possibly smell like? Well… it doesn’t smell at all like I envision it (my vision includes a heavy rose, some frog (canals, don’tchaknow) and a bit of a sweaty note – this is, after all, the Republic of Venice, from the first Doges … ‘twas a sweaty time.)… to be honest, I’m not persackly sure what it should smell like but the name conjures something a bit more portentious than the citrus notes would suggest.  The scent itself is lovely – just not what I was expecting based on the name.

Ariana Grande’s Sweet Like Candy, on the other hand…

And it’s not just perfume.  I’ve fallen in love with nail polish names and desperately want to wear them, even as I know (I KNOW) they will make me look like I have a fungus.   And absolutely gawjus YNBB (my superpower, the YNBB line) with vomiticious names (OPI, I’m lookin’ at you).  But when a name works, it works.  Witness the gorgeous Gomez and his brother-from-another-mother, Jupiter.  Both deep purple/blue/black glitters, they totally embody my notion of what Sr. Gomez and the Thunder Planet should look like..

Flowers (including the aforementioned rose)… I’ve fought my way through either loving a name/hating a rose or hating a name/loving a rose.  One of my favorite narcissus, Baby Boomer – omg.  I HATE THAT NAME!  Gorgeous flower, though.

Obviously this is a Me Problem – folks can name things as they will and I’ll either love it or I won’t.  But I’m curious:  am I the only Name Whiner out here?  Do any of you get stuck in the name game?  Tell me about it.  M. Jacques just got a pawnicure and is wanting to poke the rando button.

Speaking of … he has a WINNER! from   my last Musings post – actually, he has TWO!  Teresa and rosarita!!  Gmail yer evilauntieanita (commenting here that you won is lovely – but it doesn’t give me the details I need to get your stuff to you).  I’ll get some goodies out to you!