We don’t need new names
We don’t need new names My wife Lebogang has a niece called Keatlaretswe. It took me a while to be able to say this name. Ke-atla-re-tswe. Breaking the name down into syllables helped. The psychologists will tell you we can remember up to seven chunks of meaningful information at a time. This depends on the ‘we’, the meaning and the information: white South Africans struggle to remember certain single pieces of information and sometimes more pieces, ie syllables, makes it easier, because one chunk of “unmeaningful information”- Keatlaretswe- is too difficult. It was for me. At first. But I worked at it. With some practice and the threat of familial chastisement, I managed to get Ke-atla-re-tswe into my psyche. For her school mates and teachers at her first primary school this was a bridge too far. After a few days of playground bewilderment and confusion, Keatle (Key-ut-lee) decided that she should be called by her second name at school, Bontle, an easie...