Say the word Randy in America and it is almost infallible to say that the first thoughts will be of the loud American Idol judge Randy Jackson. Say it in Britain and the subversive message is a lascivious connotation of uninhibited, raw, sexual desire. Far from the often made jokes about American celebrity names of Apple, Suri and so on, American names in general can appear odd to British ears; Candy, Charity and Chastity are not commonplace in the UK, except on stripper poles. Although these examples tend to be parents attempting to ensure their offspring follow the virtues associated with these names it is hard to imagine parents naming their child as Randy in the UK as having the same intent. The severity of the disparity between American names and British slang is one which can cause offence despite the lightest of intentions; to call someone randy could be logically evolved to become an attempt to insinuate that they are promiscuous.
A 21 year old History graduate looking for someone to listen to his ramblings. Lover of comic books, movies and all other superhero related things. Published in The Independent, always looking for interesting things to write about...Follow me on Twitter at @samclements1993, and check out my blog: http://samuelclements.wordpress.com/
