Company chatbot names9/26/2023 ![]() ![]() These phrases have a tendency to evolve over time, much as the English language itself has. By not calling me Ernest, you’re showing a sign of appreciation towards me. Now you might be wondering: Why do people shorten this name from Ernie to Ernest? (Or, in Sheryl Crow parlance, why is it that when his name is William, is she sure it’s Bill or Billy or Mac or Buddy?) That’s because of the concept of the hypocorism, a Greek-derived term that essentially means “pet name.” Yes, we not think of it as such, but Ernie is a pet name, a sign of affection in nomenclature. (As far as I know, I’m the only Ernie Smith that is a modern-day journalist, though I haven’t looked closely.) I know of at least three separate successful musicians named Ernie or Ernest Smith, numerous athletes, and at least two generations of Ernies that came before me. The Wikipedia disambiguation page for Ernie Smith lists seven separate Ernie Smiths, none of which are me, while the related disambiguation page for Ernest Smith has 13 entries. Glenroy “Ernie” Smith, a Jamaican reggae musician, is. Today’s Tedium looks at the roots of Ernie, and considers why Baidu might have found it a fitting name. Maybe writing something might offer a reasonable shield. Crap, I thought (though I didn’t say “crap,” instead uttering another four-letter word). I just learned that Baidu, the second-largest search engine in the world, is about to launch an AI chatbot, and it’s named Ernie. But it’s that unusual nature that leads it to be used in unusual ways-as you might have heard, one of the most famous Muppets on Sesame Street shares my first name-and it’s perhaps for that reason that I’m writing about it now. (Only the “i” pokes its head out, like an alphabetical periscope of sorts.) It’s a weird name, I fully admit, which makes it somewhat memorable. I inherited my name, a two-syllable dynamo that, in lower-case form, barely expands beyond the x-height of the fonts that display it. Today in Tedium: Unless you’re Elton John or Lady Gaga or Elliott Smith, you generally don’t get to choose your name.
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