A rose by any other name would smell as bad

An Italian court won’t let a couple name their son Venerdi (“Friday” in Italian), best viagra cialis because it’s reminiscent of the name of the servant in Robinson Crusoe:

“They wanted an unusual name, viagra cheap something original, and it did not seem like a shameful name,” Rossi said in a telephone interview. “We think it calls to mind the day of the week rather than the novel’s character.”

Since city hall officials are obliged by law to report odd names, the matter ended up before judges in Genoa, the northern Italian city where the couple live.

Last month, an appeals court stated that Friday falls into the category of the “ridiculous or shameful” names that are barred by law, as it recalled the native servant in Daniel Defoe’s novel.

The judges wrote that naming somebody Friday would bar him from “serene interpersonal relationships” and would turn the boy into the “laughing stock of his group,” according to a report in La Repubblica this week.

The only “laughing stock” here is a government that thinks they should have the power to literally control a human being’s second most precious possession…his name.

Add comment December 22nd, 2007