WhatCityWho?

[madcitypato]

The name madcitypato could probably use some explanation.  I left the country the day after high school graduation four decades ago for a summer of adventure in South America.  It was time to move on and reinvent myself, so I shortened "Donald" to "Don".  But that didn't fly in the southern hemisphere because it's part of a title there, like in Don

Comments

[designerotter]

Thanks for the excellent (and amusing) explanation! It's also really timely from my POV - because I just looked you up on the blog specifically to ask you about the name.
You see, mrdreamjeans has named my little gnome "Pato", inspired by the fact that you joined the blog the same day the little fellow joined us on our outing to Olbrich.
Now here's my question: what is the proper pronounciation... Pat-o? Pay-toe? Pah-toe?
Love the caricature !
Oh, and BTW, do you know who coined the famous quote about Madison?

[bruinwi]

@Don: Thanks for the explanation. It was driving some of us batty.

@Joseph: If my high school Spanish is up to snuff, it's pronounced "PAH-toe"

[designerotter]

Thanks, Tim ... as I found out from Don, you're right.

[madcitypato]

Your gnome doesn't look like a duck, but this Pato is flattered nonetheless. The pronunciation would be closest to Pah-toe, except that the first syllable is a short clipped monophthong rather than a dipthong and the "t" is more of a soft "d". But that's only if you're being a Spanish purist.

The quote about Madison is attributed to former governor Lee Dreyfus. How many square miles he actually said has long been debated, because that's of course what Madisonians do. ;-)

[mrdreamjeans]

What a wonderful story! I had figured out the reference to Madison, but was a bit confused as to the "pato" part. I will never forget your LJ handle now. Thanks!!!

Hope you got to see the remainder of the photos from the road trip to Madison.

I've heard from some of my LJ friends who intend to "friend" you. I'm glad you've joined the community!

HUGS!

[cimarrondfw]

Me encanta el apodo Pato. Sé el significado de Pato en muchos partes de Latinoamérica. Yo era voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz en Ecuador.