The outrage at Standard Life Aberdeen’s name change suggests our feelings about new words are rooted in petty bias
Once upon a time, at the mouth of the river Don on the Scottish coast, there was a town called Aberdon. Somewhere along the way, without any fanfare, its final vowel changed. Today we call it Aberdeen.
Once upon last week, there was a company called Standard Life Aberdeen. With a flourish, it changed its name to Abrdn. The company spokespeople tell us it’s pronounced “Aberdeen”. The internet pronounced it a disaster.
