Dealing with a name that's a tongue-twister can be an absolute nightmare. If you happen to have a name that steps even slightly off the beaten track, chances are you've spent a fair share of time correcting people on how to say or spell it properly. It doesn't even have to be a complicated name. Several people with monikers that are common in their own countries but unknown abroad run into the same issues when they come into contact with people who have never heard their name before.
That's exactly the situation one woman from Norway has found herself in, as she said people never get her name correct - despite her believing it's "easy" to say. Stine Bredal took to TikTok to vent about her naming woes, revealing quite a lineup of mispronunciations she's endured – with some even dubbing her a "German glass".
In her candid footage, Stine recounts regularly being referred to as "St-eye-n", echoing the pronunciation of the German word "stein" – that classic beer container often seen hoisted at Oktoberfest. But Stine declared: "Always a classic, I am not a German glass.".
There are also plenty of people who call her "Steen" – a mispronunciation Stine finds bearable. She admitted: "This doesn't sound too bad. If I was going to choose one other way to pronounce it, it would probably be this.". Stine expressed her dislike for the mispronunciations "Stee-nay" and "Stin" and recounted the tale of a Brit who tried to nickname her "Sti". She didn't mind the nickname itself, but the spelling made her cringe as it reminded her of the abbreviation for a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
In her video, she didn't clarify the correct pronunciation of her name, but commentators quickly filled in the gaps, suggesting that the "e" should be pronounced differently from the norm in English, making it sound like "Sti-neh.". Others shared their own name struggles. One woman called Stina said she feels Stine's "pain" over the name, to which Stine replied to say she often gets mistaken for a Stina. She wrote: "Everyone thought my name was Stina and THEN asked if it was short for Christina.".
Someone else commented: "Weirdly, I would have thought Sti would be more catchy." Another added: "Sti-neh ... why do people make this so much harder on themselves?". Do you have a story to share? Get in touch at yourmirror@trinitymirror.com. Get email updates with the day's biggest stories.
