This is topic Does anyone know of anyone named Rafe IRL? -reading shlocky romance novel in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.
Yeah it basically says it all in my title. But I decided to indulge in a schlocky romance. First male name I read, is "Rafe" Why???? It's like a requirement in every romance novel. I don't get it! Does the name actually exist other than on the pages of these novels?
AJ (yeah I'll still read the book... I didn't buy it for "literature")
[ January 09, 2005, 11:40 PM: Message edited by: BannaOj ]
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
AJ, what would your Grandma say!
I've never seen a 'Rafe', though of course I've heard Ralph pronounced that way.
Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :
Yeah, I know a Rafe. It's short for Raphael.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I know two Rafes - one spelled that way, and one spelled "Raph," a shortening of Raphael that I totally disagree with. I keep telling him that it should be pronounced "Raff," but I guess sounding like a shlocky romance hero is more important than having a name that makes phoenetic sense.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Grin, the particular shlocky romance novel in question had me laughing all the way through it. You see the lady who wrote this I believe has a keen sense of awareness that it *is* shlocky romance and as a result has a sense of humor throughout the book if you are looking for it. I mean just the plot line is hysterical and she drops two facts separately, on purpose I believe that leave you scratching your head. You don't get clued in until the end that the hero did not have an illigitimate child with his first cousin.
Well she was his first cousin, but not by blood, her father was adopted, and robbed the hero of his inheritance to boot. And at the end of the book the first cousin (not the heroine of *this* book, is now eyeing the uncle of guy she had the illigitimate child with) Like I said shlocky but it definitely takes some creativity to come up with such a fantastical plot and tidy up the loose ends by the end of the book!
AJ
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
Banna - I just bumped the Hatrack Romance Writers thread, if'n you hadn't seen it before.
(I know a Rafe, too.)
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
Yes, I know someone named that, only he spells it "Raef". Can't imagine him in a romance novel, though. Although, knowing him, he'd love to be in one.
Edited to add: He'd especially love to be in it if it also had something to do with Seven of Nine.
[ January 10, 2005, 01:16 PM: Message edited by: littlemissattitude ]
Posted by Risuena (Member # 2924) on :
quote:I've heard Ralph pronounced that way.
Probably the best known example of a Ralph being pronounced 'Rafe' is Ralph Fiennes. If I remember right, it's a more traditional way of pronouncing the name.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Grin, Ralphie I enjoyed the bodice rippers when they first got posted and I'm glad you bumped it.
Huh, I had no idea Ralph Finnes was supposed to be pronounced Rafe. I thought it was the last name that was pronouned wierdly if anything.
AJ
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
There's also Ralph Vaughan Williams, the English composer. It seems to have been both an older and a more British pronunciation.
Oh, and apparently, Gilbert and Sullivan used it to rhyme with waif...
"In time each little waif Forsook his foster-mother, The well born babe was Ralph-- Your captain was the other!!!"
[ January 10, 2005, 02:15 PM: Message edited by: Megan ]
Posted by dabbler (Member # 6443) on :
Madeleine L'Engle has a book where the father's name is Rafferty, and is nicknamed Raff... (Camilla)
I know, not Rafe... but close! Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
I think the name "Zan" is a particularly studdly name and should be used in more bodice rippers.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
In one Diana Wynne-Jones' Chrestomanci books, there is an uncle Ralph, who is pronounced as "Rafe".
Posted by Puppy (Member # 6721) on :
I discovered the name "Rafe" when I was searching for nicknames for "Raphael". Apparently, it's a real name, with a real history that has nothing to do with sounding dangerous or resembling the word "rape" as you might imagine Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Gee, thanks. Actually I *hadn't* imagined that... Other than the necessity of anyone named Rafe having a rugged square jawline, I really didn't have any other mental linkages...til now.
AJ
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I know one gut who was named that...he was from Italy, so that might expalin it.
His given name was Raphael.
quote: reading shlocky romance novel
Jenni says that you are lying...that is it is REALLY a romance novel, it shouldn't be "shlocky", it should be smutty.
I told her that was a given, considering the genre...
Kwea
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
My grad school advisor is married to a man named Rafe.
Posted by Bella Bee (Member # 7027) on :
There was a time when I was about 13 when it seemed like you could browse through an entire shelf of romance novels and not find one where the hero's name was not 'Seth'. It didn't seem to matter whether the book was about farming in Texas or trekking in Outer Mongolia, the name was always the same.
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