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Quite right, I used your name when I meant little_kit.

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I am very new to this board, obviously. I don't expect anyone to know anything about me, and likewise I know nothing about anyone else. I have no idea who's been here for years or minutes. Before today, for all I knew, you might have found this site five minutes before I did.

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I perceived your suggestion to little_kit that her question would be better suited to another board as rather snobbish, since I have seen quite a few other pronunciation postings go without this suggestion. I could see nothing different about hers from those, and I found it similar to my own of last week (she and I both have mn's no one else can pronounce). You saying "the majority" like that heightened my sense of that perceived snobbishness. "Majority" always implies "minority" and issues of inclusion and exclusion. As a newcomer I am trying to sort out those very issues for myself on this board.

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I am the sort of person who will always leap to the defense of the little guy, and root for the underdog. That is how I perceived that situation. Clearly that was a wrong impression. I apologize for taking a harsh tone with my initial response, though I didn't intend for it to come across quite as sharply as it did. But then I found myself taking fire from all sides. I know I cannot possibly be the only person posting on this board who 1) is unfamiliar with Niamh; 2) does not like for other people to presume to speak for me; and 3) has a quick temper and a big mouth. Or keyboard. So I leaped in with both feet.

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I did come away with the distinct impression that there are a great many people posting from the UK here. That's terrific. Always glad to hear from friends across the pond. But I have the impression - wrong? - that there are also plenty of people from lots of other places, not just English (or Gaelic) speaking countries, and I was thinking of them, too.

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This whole exchange reminds me of a poster I've seen, of a group of cartoon penguins gathered around a rock, all identical. There's a penguin standing on the rock shouting, "We are all individuals here!" And there's a rainbow-hued penguin in the corner shouting back, "I'm not!" I feel like the rainbow penguin, shouting something at once ludicrous and perfectly rational for the purpose of being myself.

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Yes, we do seem to have similar tastes. I have been saying to myself for hours, while cooking and cleaning and putting kids to bed, that it's quite likely that if we were to meet face-to-face without all this background, we would likely get along famously. Not only do we have names in common, but also Firefly, as I recall. And who knows what else. I'm a perfectly nice person, my family and friends love me - and I'm sure the same is true for you, and for Ylva, and raindancing, and all the others who objected to what I wrote.

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I regret that I was perceived by everyone else as such a bitch. I'm not, any more than anyone else, I don't think. Maybe it's my political bent. My whole life, it has been my experience that more often than not, those who claim to speak for the majority DON'T. George W. leaps to mind, he sure as hell doesn't speak for me. I find myself "in the minority" so often about so many things. I have a long, long habit of challenging the self-proclaimed majority-speakers. Of course, sometimes, they are legitimate. I guess you are; at least, you certainly seem to be able to speak for those long-timers who identified themselves today. But not everyone on this site is a long-timer. Do we count?

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I apologize for the whole debacle. Let's start over. Unfortunately my DH will kill me if I don't sign off right this minute so I won't be able to post again till tomorrow. Good night.