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Article: Same name game.
- Article from:
- Word Ways
- Article date:
- May 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Jeremiah Farrell. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Have you ever observed that certain celebrities, historical figures, and other famous individuals happen to share identical--or very similar--first and last names? For example, PAUL SIMON is the pop singer-composer, while another PAUL SIMON is the bow-tied former illinois Senator. (Appearing with the Senator on CNN in 1995, comic Richard Belzer joked: "I have all his albums.")
It's hardly surprising that such onomastic doppelgangers can generate confusion, mixups, and mistaken identities. VANESSA WILLIAMS, perhaps best-known for her role in the TV series Melrose Place, is often mistaken for VANESSA L. WILLIAMS, the 1983 Miss America, whose title was yanked in the ...