My god, I have become what I mocked! Junior year, when we read "The Crucible," the Buffy enthusiasts in the class made it clear the first day of discussion that Giles Corey's name would be pronounced in the same manner as their favourite Watcher. I silently snickered at them from my seat. "What geeks!" I thought, without a trace of irony. And then yesterday, when we covered the Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co v. Sarony case, when one guy pronounced the name like "guiles," I found myself almost biting my tongue to stop myself from automatically responding with my chosen pronunciation. I have come full circle in the arc of mockery.

But then, now that I think about it, I was guilty of "insistence upon fandom pronunciation in class" long before junior year. In 8th grade, when we read "My Antonia", the X-Phile in me (dear gravy, I haven't written the term "X-Phile" in years) requested to the teacher (also a fan) that Peter Krajiek's name be pronounced like "Krycek," which she agreed to.

Clearly, fandom ate my brain years ago and I therefore cannot be held responsible for any of my actions, unconscionably geeky as they may be. And now, back to homework!

P.S. Can one come "full circle" in an arc? I'm not taking Math this semester, and therefore am furthermore exempt from thinking about geometry. Tra-la!