.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Sambhar Mafia - Cooked To Kill!

Friday, June 24, 2005

Why do fictional characters have rhyming names?

Let’s sample a few

Chennai FM ads - Loan Loganathan promoting some consumer finance company

B’lore Radio City FM – Kannada teacher Lingo Leela (one of my favourites)

Business Today fitness column – Muscles Mani

Channel [V] Ads of yesteryear – Quick Gun Murugan

Any more that you can think of?

=================================================

ATTENTION SPAN & COMMENTS

When you put two posts on the same day why is it that the post at the top attracts more comments than the one below? Is the reader’s attention span so small or is it that the reader is too lazy to scroll down? Have you encountered such situations?

posted by Kaps at 4:07 PM

35 Comments:

  • Donno abt the comments thing... I read through RSS and come here only when I have something to say ;-)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:50 PM  

  • the rhyming name thing is all about getting the attention of the viewer/listener :-)

    -----

    as for the readers .. most of them assume that people usually post only once in a day ..

    and i post 3-4 times in a day !! .. so i know ! :-)

    By Blogger Surinder, at 5:00 PM  

  • HMMM
    :(
    even i have experienced the comments thing
    i post 3-4 times a day too!
    :(

    rhyming names are infectious...they tend to stay in people's memory ,thats why....

    in my class there were two guys called sathyanarayanan..one assumed the name "sallu" and so the other was given the name "ullu"

    human psycology!

    By Blogger monu, at 5:23 PM  

  • alliteration and rhyme helps to create that hook. That catchy feel that won't let u forget the name in a hurry.

    And if u don't forget the name, ur bound to automatically associate it with its origin.

    Voila, their Marketing Strategy succeeds! :)

    ps.
    I guess ppl tend to give more preference to the post on top coz mebbe our minds automatically prioritise from top to bottom.

    pps.
    over-a peter vitturukaen! :D Don't mind!!

    By Blogger Harish, at 5:38 PM  

  • Rules Ramanujam

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:23 PM  

  • Rhyme-ellam oru effect create panna thaan. Ladu Labakidas was a hit because it was rhyming, wasn't it? And as far as the bottom post not attracting comment goes, I believe people are lazy to scroll down. One reason why people never like to see long posts and long posts attracting far less comments than one-liners is this.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:08 PM  

  • Everyone has already said it all :) yeah rhyming name tends to stick in your mind more and thereby as Mr.Peterru has said above most probably increases the revenue.

    Anyway, what does alliteration mean? Where is that dictionary when you need it!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:35 PM  

  • Yeah Kay
    I have encountered that.
    I think folks are generally a little lasy to comment on two posts in one day. :))
    That includes me too... Unless of course the post is 'verrrry' eye catching and they just cant stop themselves from commenting. :))

    And btw I am not sure why fictional characters have rhyming names.. probably to make it catchy?

    By Blogger BZ, at 9:42 PM  

  • Kaps I have encountered this.The first one gets more.think its both lazy and want of time.
    Edhu yenna pudhusa ?dont u remeber the utter flops of shivaji with rhyming titles
    Pilot premnath
    Hitler umanath
    some more I forget.
    think people remember when it rhymes.these are better than names liek tv anchors perya poochi and chinna poochi.

    By Blogger Anjali, at 10:49 PM  

  • rhyming names are for jolly, good fun...

    regarding comments.. i hav encoutered this before and thats the reason y i restricted myself to one post a day. ppl are just lazy to comment twice, though i feel that they do read all the posts.

    By Blogger Chakra, at 11:46 PM  

  • I guess its with the RSS. Visit the blog only for leaving comments. :) .. and I do that in the first post. And yes, I've noticed the same thing in my blog too.

    By Blogger Govar, at 12:33 AM  

  • Security Srinivas :)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:42 AM  

  • Monu..

    Y did u say abt my story alone..

    There were Gaya3s..
    One was called "Weightu" and so the other "Heightu"

    Monu is one among them..

    And abt commenting to both! " MAybe we shudnt expect so much from visitors"

    I dont think they are that vetti

    By Blogger ioiio, at 4:39 AM  

  • I don't know what others think about the comments stuff...lazy probably....but here is what i have found out....of course through experiments .... hehehe...thot abt bloggin this ...u beat me now

    if i come to my blog i click on the top post comment section "first"....so ppl feel definetely the author will read his comments for the top most post...i have commented on the older posts which sometimes never got any replies...so i comment mostly on the top most post...

    By Blogger Me, at 4:44 AM  

  • Kaps,
    The first one always seems to be the attention grabber. And once a few people have started commenting on it, it starts showing more number of comments on that. Then, the second aspect kicks in. As people see more comments on the first blog, they assume that this generates more discussion and are automatically sucked in. And then, it possibly becomes too late to comment on the remaining blogs. But, I am sure they read them, at least yours :-)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:17 AM  

  • I think its to be catchy.!
    L for L ( Loan Logu, Lingo leela)
    M for M,

    Quick Gun Murugan - defies logic.

    I have a friend called 'Bodyless Ravi'.

    By Blogger Narayanan Venkitu, at 6:50 AM  

  • "Alliteration" is the word that caught my attention here..

    Not all the words mentioned by Kaps are alliteration...

    For eg..
    Loan Loganathan is an alliteration but Lingo leela is not a alliteration because the repeated syllable here does not have same
    sound.

    If you looking for comments i wud suggest you to write not more than 1 post a day.

    By Blogger Kay, at 8:01 AM  

  • Eetauthu puthu padatil erunthu puthu pattu podunggu!

    By Blogger Maran, at 9:49 AM  

  • rhyming names r funny, think of it, everytime one hears loan loganathan one is likely to laugh, or atleast find it funny,
    there is blade pakari from suryan fm,

    By Blogger ada-paavi!!!!, at 9:55 AM  

  • About the comments things, you tell us?

    My 2 cents, many of the blog visitors track more than 100 blogs (I am very conservative here) and they read the most recent posting. (LIFO algorithm; lol)

    By Blogger Venky Krishnamoorthy, at 11:03 AM  

  • Its all in the Psychology of minds Kaps...

    Very simple.. What content that can be seen without scrolling will catch more attention than others. Scrolling need some effort, more than the physical effort, its a decision.. a thought process deciding to scroll, go down and check out other part.

    We can make it habitual... like Ram.C does, stirring the mind unconciously by reminding them that there is another post following the current post. Its not that visitors are lazy, they are just not accustomed to read the 2-3 posts as a common thing!

    By Blogger Chez, at 11:12 AM  

  • I think the copy writer used to love limericks - thus he came up with the devilish plan to infiltrate minds with rhyming names! Lol everyone had already said what I wanted to say so ;p

    I should know the topmost post trend! My observation they read the first comment read the next, feel shy to comment, leave and comeback again wondering shall I comment ;p

    By Blogger Visithra, at 11:21 AM  

  • About the comments thing ... Maybe people dont want to comment more than once!

    By Blogger GS, at 8:51 PM  

  • Kaps, quiz question. What's different on my site now? No prizes :-)

    By Blogger Krish, at 1:38 PM  

  • How abt adding "Matter Mahadevan" (http://mattermahadevan.blogspot.com) ! perhaps, he shall answer the question .

    By Blogger Cogito, at 2:53 PM  

  • CAN HARD LAY WAIT, NOT EASY WAIT, ONLY SAY, YOU PRETTY WELL COVERR DIVERSITY OF WORDS AND MODUS OPERANDI, CUNT ADD TO IT MAYBE, LATER MUS TINK ON IT AND TOES AND HOES I MEAN HOSE TOO TOO, FOR A WHILE, GEENCEE, A MAN, A MAN, AMEN,

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:31 PM  

  • Thanx everyone.

    I think the majority opinion is that rhyming names are easy to remember and can be associated with brands. But if every brand is going to have a rhyming name just for easy retention then it becomes quite irritating. Maybe they need to think of something different.

    As far as the comments are concerned lot of us feel that the top post attracts the maximum comments and hence it is always better to put the better post at the top.

    By Blogger Kaps, at 9:29 AM  

  • Can we give a name 'Kurly Kaps' to you kaps? We can leave it for bloggers opinion!!!!!

    By Blogger Ram C, at 1:34 PM  

  • see this time, I hv selected the friday's post to comment.. not the top one -linking park?

    I believe, it is the interest which makes the viewers to comment on the post.

    By Blogger Ram C, at 1:35 PM  

  • havr ou heard of all-in-all anantaraman on crazy mohan's drama - cant remember which one? and he has a son after-all-aravamuthan!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:15 PM  

  • "security srinivas..."????

    maann...somebody works for Wipro here :-)

    By Blogger Hawkeye, at 5:32 PM  

  • Another item for the day, folks. Nice site . Ramya Diwakaran.

    Date:20/06/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/06/20/stories/2005062000490800.htm
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    All-India Services



    FOR some years now, the number of successful candidates in the all-India Services from the South, especially Tamil Nadu, has been shrinking perceptibly in comparison with those from other States. This year, only 3 Tamilian looking names have qualified for 20 vacancies of IFS; 9 for 91 of IAS and 32 out of 422 for all other Services. Of course this year's figures are better than those of the middle and late 1990s, with the added surprise of a candidate from Tamil Nadu topping the list.

    The declining number may not in itself be a reason for worry. Many bright candidates these days opt for the private sector or advanced studies abroad, whereas in earlier times, young aspirants had no other avenue to prove ourselves than all-India services.

    I learn from Sriram's IAS at Delhi, which groomed Mr S. Nagarajan to become the topper this year, that the success rate is also determined by the mix of subjects. For instance, general studies including Constitution, current affairs, economy and science and technology are tough as there are no readily available books that do justice to the three dimensions of content, language and depth.

    Reflecting their decisive role in the country's development, economic issues are coming to occupy a conspicuous position in the scheme of the examinations, calling for a thorough grasp of their complexities and intricacies. Sometimes candidates score better in, say, public administration and geography, than in technical subjects.

    Proficiency in English matters but not as much as earlier. Ideas, analysis and presentation count far more in assessing the intellectual calibre, and this is as it should be. Delhi beckons as the ideal place for preparation because of the facility of easy access to think-tanks and the variety of seminars conducted by them as also to the faculties and libraries of the Jawaharlal Nehru and Delhi Universities.

    Most candidates seem to find the need for coaching to be absolutely essential. Coaching centres run by the Universities and private institutions such as the Brilliant Tutorials and Sriram's are in great demand, because of their record of successful candidates and their ability to digest, process and present the material for use in the examinations, thus saving the time involved in preparation.







    B. S. Raghavan



    © Copyright 2000 - 2005 The Hindu Business Line

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:29 AM  

  • I am back from a 10 day respite and my bloghopping now mostly involves the recently updated posts ! I guess reading just the top post is quite natural !!!

    Cheers,
    Super Somasundaram.

    By Blogger Woodooz, at 12:46 AM  

  • Hahaha! Dunno abt fictional characters, but what comes to mind are Silk Smitha and Nylon Nalini! One would think they were daughters of a textile manufacturer! :D

    By Blogger Sayesha, at 10:08 AM  

  • Quickdraw McGraw, Chilly Willy, Humpty Dumpty, Piggley Wiggley,Fuzzy Wuzzy, Georgie Porgie, Henny Penny, Augie Doggie,Heckle and Jeckle,Mother Hubbard, Jack Sprat, Huey,Dewey and Louie,Oingo Boingo, Millie Vanillie, Quiet Riot, Smothers Brothers, Evil Knievel, Wavy Gravy, Elvis the pelvis, the Cat in the Hat, the Frito Bandito,Beaver Cleaver

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:02 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home