How Do You (Politely) Correct Someone for Calling You the Wrong Name?
Just ask Kandi Burruss, who has no time for people trying to call her by her "government name."
Kandi Burruss gets recognized on the daily while out and about in the world, and sometimes people have a very funny way of trying to act like they're a close, familiar friend of The Real Housewives of Atlanta entertainer and businesswoman when they haven't actually ever met her.
Mama Joyce picked the name Kandi for her baby girl when she was born. It isn't short for something else, like Kandice, but that doesn't stop people from calling her that every single day.
"So earlier today — shout out to my Uber driver, he's on YouTube so he might see this — today was his birthday. He was a nice guy. We had a freaking hour drive for this interview day for the Housewives. So, as we're getting out of the car, [he says], 'Well all right, Kandice, I'll see you later,'" she said in a video blog called "My Name Is Kandi!"
"First of all," she continued. "Kandice is not my name. I said, 'Uh, that's not my name. Don't call me that.' He says, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I won't call you by your government name.' What?! Sir, that is not my government. My name is not Kandice... my government name is Kandi. That is the name that was on my birth certificate when I was born. I did not change to Kandi, that is just what it is. So, for all you people out there who think that you're just being extra familiar by thinking that you're calling me by my government name, you're just annoying the f--k out of me by calling me something that is not my name. Now, for all you people that's named Kandice, nothing against you, that is your name — but that is not my name and I don't want people calling me that!"
Turns out, Mama Joyce thought for sure that she was having a boy and didn't prepare any girl names before giving birth, but her Aunt Rachel stepped in and suggested Kandi.
"Growing up as a kid, I hated my name... it was the fake name that everyone gave out back in the day, so every time I said my name, people thought I was lying," she recalled.
But now, she's feeling her name — and wants everyone to get it right! Get it, got it? Good!
For the rest of us without a YouTube channel to call out people who get our names wrong, a simple "my name is actually ____" will have to do.
