Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
But I'm not quite certain why you think the traditional genders of the names have anything to do with the confusion in my scenario. It's completely irrelevant in my mind.
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Yes, the gender is irrelevant, except the original story is a father and a daughter named after the father.
It's perfectly possible to have two traditionally male names that are the same on the birth cert but in usage sound different. The Stephan example still works.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
Group dialogue would be just as confusing if two male characters (or two female characters) were named Jayne/Jane. I trip over who is being spoken to/about because the names sound identical. Period. Gender doesn't enter into it. The narrator changes their tone enough to easily identify when one of the Ja(y)nes are doing the talking.
It's "Bob looked warily at <name>" that's the problem when spoken. Spoken by anyone.
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Agree totally. Also easily avoided. Some authors expend considerable research on names.
Even Bob and Bab with some Irish accents is poor*. Bobby and Bab, or Bob and Babby, or Bob and Roberta, or Robby and Bertie is better.
[* Towel in some parts of Ireland sounds a bit like Tahwl (very short e and long a)]