S-M-I-T-H

Sometimes, you can confound people just by over-explaining the simplest of things.

My favorite example of this comes from a friend of mine with the last name of Smith.  A well-known name for sure.   The surname Smith is, in fact, the most common last name in Great Britain, the United States, and Australia.

According to Ancestry.com, the business of surnames largely came about in the Middle Ages, when people identified themselves by their trade.  Back then, nearly every village in had a smith, usually a blacksmith, who made horseshoes, weapons, and all the tools needed for their version of modern living.  Some names were more specific, with people called Combsmith or Smithson.  These were all later shortened to Smith.  This explains why we have so many Smiths today.

My friend with the name of Smith made a habit of purposely overplaying his hand whenever he checked into a hotel or whenever someone needed to write down his name.

“My name is Tim Smith,” he would say.  And then he would quickly spell out his last name: “That’s S-M-I-T-H.”

More often than not, the person taking down his name would suddenly register confusion.  All forward motion would stop.  “I’m sorry…could you spell that for me again?”

—Mitchell Hegman