– Tom, via Telegraph What’s in a name? I’m genuinely puzzled by why this issue matters so much to you. Also by your assumption that you’ll have to call your mother-in-law ‘Nanny’ or ‘Nan’.
Why? I called Judy’s mum ‘Anne’ before and after our children were born. It would have felt deeply weird if I’d mimicked our kids when they started to talk, and suddenly begun addressing her as they did: ‘Nanny’. (Sorry, Tom, the Madeley-Finnigans don’t share your sensitivity on this point!)However, you employ two significant and revealing adjectives towards the end of your letter: ‘snobbish’ and ‘pretentious’.
Hmm. Where did they spring from? I suggest they bubbled up from your subconscious because, actually, they are the reasons you feel uncomfortable with ‘Nanny’ and ‘Nan’.
They’re not middle-class enough for you. Sorry to be blunt, but I think deep down you know that to be the truth.Pretentiousness isn’t a crime and neither is snobbery, but they lead us into foolishness.
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