Chatterbox

Aptronym Watch: Climatology Edition

You don’t need to be named Weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

Aptronym (n): A name that inadvertently describes its bearer’s occupation. Widely attributed to Franklin P. Adams, aka “F.P.A.,” whose newspaper column, “The Conning Tower,” was popular during the 1920s and 1930s.

Elizabeth Weatherhead tracks the slow recovery of the ozone layer  at the University of Colorado’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.

Dr. Aena Han Payne runs an acupuncture clinic  at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Why does Florida permit its citizens to carry concealed handguns? Maybe because the regulator in charge of its “concealed carry” program is named Charles H. Bronson.

Ellen Winner is the author of Gifted Children: Myths and Realities.

In 2003, the winner of the World Series of Poker was Chris Moneymaker.

The first African-American quarterback in the National Football League was Willie Thrower, who played two games for the Chicago Bears in 1953.

You don’t think dentists are “real” doctors? Try telling that to Dr. Ravi Doctor, DDS, in Arlington, Texas.

Richard Superfine, a physicist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, participates in that institution’s NanoScience Research Group.

Joe Shockey  is a retired electrician living in Seven Hills, Ohio.

Updated Aptronym Yellow Pages:

Acupuncture
Dr. Aena Han Payne  (University of Mississippi)


Anger Management
Dr. Richard Madden (Hudson, N.Y.)

Astronomers
Alan Heavens (University of Edinburgh)

Cabinet Secretaries
Margaret Spellings (Secretary of Education)

Clergy
Jaime Lachica Cardinal Sin (former archbishop of Manila)

Climatologists
Elizabeth Weatherhead  (Boulder, Colo.)

Dentists/Orthodontists
Ngoc Quang Chu, DDS (Bethesda, Md.)
Dr. Ravi Doctor  (Arlington, Va. A dentist so nice you call him “doctor” twice!)
Dalbert Fear, Jr., DDS (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Ken Hurt, DDS (Albuquerque, N.M.)
Kenneth Krowne, DDS (Brookline, Mass.)
Les Plack, DDS (San Francisco, Calif.)
Anthony J. Puller, DDS (Richmond, Va.)
Randall Toothaker, DDS (University of Nebraska Medical Center)
Barth, Lacy, and Craig Toothman (Columbus, Ohio)

Economists
David Dollar (economist at the World Bank)

Electricians
Joe Shockey (Seven Hills, Ohio)

Food Critics
Jamie Maw (Vancouver magazine)

Football Players
Brian Baldinger (former defensive lineman, Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts *, and Philadelphia Eagles)
Joey Goodspeed (former running back, St. Louis Rams)
Quentin Jammer (cornerback for the San Diego Chargers)
Willie Thrower (first black quarterback in the NFL)

Gastroenterologists
Angel Colon(Annapolis, Md.)

Gynecologists
Dr. Bonnie Beaver (West Hills, Calif.)
Dr. Harry Beaver, retired (Fairfax, Va.)
Sheldon H. Cherry (New York, N.Y.)
Dr. Hyman Meltzer, deceased (Chicago)

Laywers
Jeffrey M. Advokat, (Morristown, N.J.)
Sue Yoo  (Sullivan & Cromwell, New York, N.Y.)
Leadership Expert
Jack Christ (Ripon College, Ripon, Wis.)

Lobbyists
Leon Billings
Robert Cashdollar

Nanotechnology
Richard Superfine  (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

Novelists/Essayists
Francine Prose (New York, N.Y.)

Office Supplies and Equipment
Dean Boring, president, Boring Office Supplies (Lakeland, Fla.)

Opthalmologists
Dr. Kevin Blinder (Washington University)

Ornithologists
David Bird (director, Avian Science and Conservation Center, McGill University, Canada)

Performing Arts
Sarah Slipper (former dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet)

Podiatrists
Dr. Allen Korn (Washington, D.C.)

Poker Champions
Chris Moneymaker  (Spring Hill, Tenn.)

Police
John Lawless (Haverstraw, N.Y.)

Psychologists/Psychiatrists
Dr. Jules Angst (emeritus professor of psychiatry, University of Zurich)
Ellen Winner  (author of
Gifted Children: Myths and Realities; professor of psychology at Boston College)
Roberta L. Nutt, Ph.D. (director, Counseling Psychology Doctoral Program, Texas Women’s University)
William Dement, M.D. (professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stanford)

Race-car Drivers
Scott Goodyear
Scott Speed

Rapists, Convicted
Robert Raper (Boston, Mass.)

Realtors
Ann Greathouse (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Cynthia Houser (Silver Spring, Md.)

Regulators
Charles H. Bronson  (oversees Florida’s “concealed carry” program allowing ordinary citizens to pack heat)

Religion, Professors of
Terry Godlove (Hofstra University)

Risk Management
John C. Chicken (author, The Philosophy of Risk)

Sexual Misconduct Researcher
Charol Shakeshaft

Spokespersons
Am Rong (Khmer Rouge spokesman, Cambodia)
Tony Snow (Washington, D.C.)
Larry Speakes (Reagan White House flak)

Textiles
Laura Knott-Twine, (founder, Windham Textile and History Museum in Windham, Conn., known as “Thread City.”)

Urologists
Dr. Richard (“Dick”) Chopp (Austin, Texas)
Dr. Dennis Peters (Pensacola, Fla.)
Dr. Alexander Philpott (Wheat Ridge, Colo.)
Dr. Keith Waterhouse, retired (New York, N.Y.)