Buzz
Former congressman Anthony Weiner has once again made headlines with his scandalous antics, creating another round of news that pokes fun at the connotations of his name. The term 'wiener' evolved to refer to a man’s private parts, linked to a type of sausage from Vienna, known as the Wiener Würstchen. In German, Vienna is called Wien, pronounced 'veen,' and the Viennese use Wiener, pronounced 'veener.' Similar to how 'Polish' sausage is used, people started calling the wiener sausage a 'weener,' and this usage eventually extended to other sausage-like items.
But Anthony Weiner’s surname is not spelled 'Wiener'! It uses 'ei' instead of 'ie,' and in German, 'ei' is pronounced 'eye,' much like it would sound in 'whiner.' So why doesn’t he pronounce it that way? What drives him to endure the teasing?
Had he lived in Germany, his name would indeed carry the 'eye' pronunciation, but in the United States, both 'eye' and 'ee' pronunciations can be heard. This discrepancy is influenced by factors like ethnicity, sound shifts, and pure happenstance. There exists a German surname 'Weiner' that originates from a regional pronunciation of 'Wagner,' related to Waggoner, meaning wagon-maker. However, Anthony Weiner is Jewish, and his surname is likely derived from the Yiddish name Vayner, which means wine merchant. Yiddish, being closely tied to German, shares a connection with the German word Wein, meaning 'wine,' and is pronounced with the 'eye' vowel. Additionally, there's a rarer Jewish surname 'Wiener,' referring to someone from Vienna.
For quite some time, two surnames with slightly different spellings and pronunciations have coexisted in the same American communities. As part of the Americanization process, these names have likely become mixed up. This confusion may have been further compounded by the inconsistent 'ie' and 'ei' spelling rules in English, as well as the influence of common Scottish surnames where 'ei' represents the 'ee' sound (MacLeish, Neil, Reid, Weir, Keith).
In the American tradition, each family has the freedom to decide how they want to spell and pronounce their name. If Anthony Weiner ever feels the urge to reinvent himself once more, he could always consider changing his name.
