r/mildyinteresting • u/waiha • May 01 '26

humankind hiccups 😅 Well this aged like milk.

Post image

Stumbled upon this while clearing out the attic.

She visited my primary school in Edinburgh shortly after releasing TPS. The girl in front of me (my friend and train-to-school comrade) was Southeast Asian and has an incredibly elaborate sounding name. When Joanne screwed up her face when my friend gave her her name for the signature, I laughed. This is how she decided to sign my copy.

I was laughing at you, JK.

EDIT: It’s on EBay.

59.9k Upvotes

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2.2k

u/Typical_Ad_210 May 01 '26

What does she mean by (pin) after her signature?

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u/[deleted] May 02 '26

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u/Svanirsson May 02 '26

I can hear Tom Hardy saying "no it's not it's a Rowling Pin, you gonna bake me a cake?"

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u/leosnose May 02 '26

Who are you, Fanny Craddock? What you gonna do with that, bake me cake? Gonna sing me a song, watch me blow out me fucking candles?

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u/Hike_it_Out52 May 02 '26

“I come here for a fucking shootout, a proper shootout with some proper men. Like Colonel Custer and Geronimo.”  

Legendary scene. Tom Hardy is a master. 

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u/Stampede_the_Hippos May 02 '26

Before we start, I got a little joke for you. You'll like this one, a paranoid schizophrenic walks into a bar.

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u/tendo8027 May 02 '26

Legendary indeed

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u/No-Disaster1647 May 02 '26

FUH-KIN EMBARRASSING!!

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u/Haunting-Effort7874 May 02 '26

He's just genuinely disappointed with you, that's all.

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u/Excellent_Condition May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26

Based on what was written and OP's explanation, it seems like a lighthearted way to make fun of herself. Her last name rhymes with bowling.

I disagree with the position she has taken on people who are trans, but that doesn't mean that everything she has ever said was cruel and malicious.

People are complicated, and most people are a mix of good and bad. A lot of the lessons in her book were about kindness and acceptance. That doesn't make her position on people who are trans any better, but it also doesn't mean that everything she has ever done is bad or malicious.

It'd be a lot easier if people were all good or all bad, but that's not reality.

Edit: and yes, this is Reddit, so I'm ready for the downvotes to any comment suggesting that a person can be wrong on one issue and right on others, and that the world doesn't just exist in black and white.

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u/EnumeratedArray May 02 '26

I think she's joking that her name is "rolling pin" not that it rhymes with bowling.

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u/Excellent_Condition May 02 '26

That also makes sense. Either way, it still seems like she was trying to be lighthearted when she wrote it.

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u/Rich_Safety7653 May 03 '26

It's the only thing that makes sense. That it rhymes with bowling pin isn't the joke. At all. You really should acknowledge you've missed the joke spectacularly.

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u/pvaa May 05 '26

Especially because NOBODY in England would call a skittle a "pin"

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u/da99s May 02 '26

Bro. you're telling me it's pronounced like "rolling"? I've been pronouncing it like it rhymes with "fouling" this whole time

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u/Emergency-Wish160 May 02 '26

I would take it as Rowling pin was the joke they had made, just making reference to it a second time

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u/w4lk1ng May 02 '26

Or she’s showing OP that people used to laugh at her, calling her “rolling pin” as a joke, and she was hurt by that. Hence the “don’t laugh at other people’s names” comment

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u/Fun_Butterfly_420 May 02 '26

Would make sense

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u/LunacityxArtistry May 03 '26

"The world doesnt just exist in black and white" is what ive been trying to explain for sooo long. Black & white thinking is a harmful thought process even psychologists treat for. Ive agreed with people who have opposing views than me, yet we had similar views on other subjects.

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u/Absurd_Uncertainty May 02 '26

I mean if someone works for the betterment of humanity versus wasting their fortune to strip rights from others that does indeed make one better than the other by value of morality. Turns out all the mudblood stuff really was a red herring.

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u/TheMostDivineOne May 02 '26

She’s literally funding an organization to attack trans women in the workplace, yeah. It’s not “just opinions” she’s using her money to do actual harmful shit.

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u/Scared_Accident9138 May 02 '26

Why not rolling pin?

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u/dougiewuggie May 04 '26

As a Harry Potter fan since I was 9 whose values of inclusivity helped come from what she created & as the son of a single Mom & (unfortunately) a DV survivor, I agree.

Thanks for the Reddit bravery. If we all could talk to each other at dinner with commitment, love & nuance/ gray areas allowed, we’d all be better off.

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u/twirlerthoughts May 02 '26

I think this is what hurt the most for the Trans community. They had this story that spoke to them, even if none of the characters were Trans, and they could picture themselves in an open and inclusive environment.

I will say though, as an ally, that they still can, her views nnotwithstanding. But it does make sense to not want to support her works because of her behavior.

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u/Beloved_Mango May 02 '26

Exactly. It was a very Dumbledore-like response, and rather clever.

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u/warukeru May 02 '26

You are right no ones is pure evil or good but this feels low-key like saying Hitler was vegan

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u/[deleted] May 02 '26

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u/Planar_Harold May 02 '26

What an absurd position, who ever said that?

It's the direct implication of the post and the inference made by the OP.

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u/Excellent_Condition May 02 '26

People on this thread and on Reddit in general very often paint everything she has done or said in a negative light.

The things she has said about trans people should be viewed negatively, but the Harry Potter series is generally one where compassion, love, and kindness are the central themes.

However, people tend to lump everything she has said or written in the same light.

Case in point: your goblin example. Without having read the books, you cite her descriptions of goblins as being banker people with big noses. Lots of people have said the same thing.

In the books though, that isn't the description given nor how they are presented. The physical description of a goblin is as having "swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard, and very long fingers and feet." They are described as clever and able to stand up for themselves against wizards who try to control them, and are often bankers and metal smiths.

As far as I know, their noses (your example) aren't mentioned in the books at all.

People like to view everything that a person does as good or bad based on their overall viewpoint of that person, when people are more complicated than that.

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u/ImPapaNoff May 02 '26

The top response to the previous commenters comment is someone saying Rowling wants to genocide an entire people and saying anything nice about her is like saying nice things about Hitler. I don't think it's absurd to remind people that human beings are multi faceted when the knee jerk reaction of 99% of people on reddit seems to be some sort of absolute fucking extreme position on her.

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u/KyleEze May 02 '26

She doesn't want to genocide an entire group of people. She's participating in the active, current occuring genocide of a group of people. Like according to genocide scholars in the US (and UK) we are anywhere between step 7 and 9 of genocide.

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u/FancyFrogFootwork May 02 '26

Perfectly articulated Thankyou.

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u/FatHarrison May 02 '26

This edit is irritating and is the only thing in your comment that makes me want to downvote

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u/shifty_coder May 02 '26

Makes more sense, as Rowling would call a bowling pin a ‘skittle’.

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u/Ambitious_Bite_5219 May 02 '26

She’s literally giving money to anti-trans organizations and celebrating the rollback of trans rights on twitter. How is that not malicious?

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u/rigathrow May 02 '26

she's actively funding transphobia here in the uk and gives cash for shelters and sexual assault services who turn away trans people in need of help. it's hardly "she said a mean thing about trans people or she just isn't with the times".

she despises us and lives to see our lives made worse, just because we dare to exist. she isn't just "complicated as all people are", she's a raging bigot and fake feminist.

jk rowling can rot in hell.

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u/Solitary_Dummy May 02 '26

Nuance is the enemy of profitable media

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u/Whole-Chest90 May 02 '26

She's a bigot. Fuck her and everything she's ever said.

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u/lukypunchy May 02 '26

How dare you be reasonable!

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u/CatLover701 May 02 '26

I choose to believe that the black mold was real for my peace of mind, rather than her hiding her hatred this long. Because she was a good person and a pretty decent author. But unfortunately, either way, at this point there’s nothing else to do but completely stop interacting with her media.

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u/MPKH May 01 '26

It’s probably a reference to how her last name is pronounced. Rowling rhymes with bowling = bowling pin.

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u/cadaever May 01 '26

i think she is actually referring to a rolling pin, like the one for baking (pictured)

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u/ma1butters May 02 '26

It's definitely this.

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u/spaceisourplace222 May 02 '26

Well, today I learned I’ve been saying it wrong for 20 years. It’s what she deserves (and clearly cares about)

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u/ILikeToDickDastardly May 02 '26

I take it you never heard this one:

"How did Harry Potter get down the hill?"

"walking... jk, rowling"

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u/fofxequalsfofy May 02 '26

Haha let’s put a pin on this

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u/Call_like_it_is_ May 04 '26

🎶 They see me Rowling... they laughin' 🎶

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u/JacedFaced May 02 '26

Well lucky for us she has made it abundantly clear that she doesn't give a fuck about how using the wrong names makes other people feel, so Joanna Rawlings can just suck it up.

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u/Feisty-Comfort-3967 May 02 '26

Who? Jemina Quay Rowkang?

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u/eamus_catuli_ May 02 '26

How have you been saying it?

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u/spaceisourplace222 May 02 '26

The Rowl part has always rhymed with Owl, in my head.

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u/feNdINecky May 02 '26

You're not alone

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u/RhetoricalOrator May 02 '26

I've always said it so that "Row-" rhymes with "wow."

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u/Purple-Delivery2885 May 02 '26

Musta been your first rowdy-o

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u/pussywitasideofranch May 02 '26

This is so funny to me 🤣

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u/DrTeeeevil May 02 '26

Your username is funny to me

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u/Appropriate-Race-763 May 02 '26

I always get in an argument when I use the oars in my boat. ;-)

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u/HomieeJo May 02 '26

I will now pronounce her name like Owen Wilson pronounces his wow.

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u/RdCrestdBreegull May 02 '26

yea it’s ‘Row-‘ like ‘crow’

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u/[deleted] May 02 '26

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u/John_cCmndhd May 02 '26

Theme from the TV show Rawhide! Thank you!

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u/sabretoothian May 04 '26

I pronounce it as row, but never row. If that's unclear, the way I say it rhymes with bow, but not bow.

Glad that's cleared up.

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u/angelofmusic997 May 02 '26

I think a lot of folks have. Strangely, I have memories of people around me being rather inconsistent with how her name was pronounced. Sometimes it would be Rowling-rhymes-with-bowling, other times it would be Rowling-rhymes-with-howling. (I seem to recall even the media not having a settled pronuncation, but I could be misremembering. I don't remember particular show segments, so I'm not exactly able to fact-check, especially given how popular JK is, and has been over the years.)

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u/clawdaughter May 02 '26

Like howling, but with an r.

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u/AgentCirceLuna May 02 '26

Uh oh… looks like we’ve got JK Howling on Twitter again.

Also, sometimes I believe her whole schtick was a psy-op because her books definitely used to be associated with ‘liberal’ types who loved art or writing (how dare they!) and were always told to ‘read another book’. Her new discrimination meant she captured a new audience of ignorant pin heads so I don’t see that take as often.

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u/hail_to_the_beef May 02 '26

I’ve been saying it to rhyme with ‘howling’ so this is new to me too

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u/throwaway-girls May 02 '26

How though, this cretin's name has been in the media in some form or another for nearly 30 years and you never heard her name spoken out loud?

Wish I could be that lucky.

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u/gcalig May 02 '26

The way I say it, it rhymes with "bunt"

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u/TerrifyingPug May 02 '26

I personally always pronounced it like r-ow-ling

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u/Datalyzer420 May 02 '26

That clears it up

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u/Benkyougin May 02 '26

I always pronounce it as rowling, as is the rowling in jk rowling.

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u/meloedee May 02 '26

wow-ling but replace the first W with an R

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u/jordansinn May 02 '26

Unless you're Johnathan Ross

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u/Ready-Vermicelli-300 May 02 '26

Same.... I'mma keep doing it 🤣 cuzfkher

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u/RecordAbject273 May 02 '26

The fact that she wrote out how to pronounce her name is so fucking cringe I can’t even.

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u/ffaancy May 02 '26

I’m honestly impressed that you clocked this as a pronunciation key, but missed the rolling pin part. 🎳

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u/whowouldsaythis May 01 '26

Bowling pins are called skittles in the UK so I don’t think so

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u/BargerianJade May 02 '26

Every time I learn what something is called in the UK I believe less that it's a real place

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u/HeftyVermicelli7823 May 02 '26

As an actual Brit we are indeed real, I like to think that America is not real though and just a disturbed dream.

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u/PsychologicalSir3326 May 02 '26

America is your repressed creation.

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u/surprisesnek May 02 '26

Do you think God Brits stay in Heaven Britain because they too live in fear of what they have created?

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u/4n0m4nd May 02 '26

I mean they just go other places and call them Britain too

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u/captainn_chunk May 02 '26

And call it “holiday”

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u/4n0m4nd May 02 '26

They're not immigrants, they're ex-pats.

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u/HeftyVermicelli7823 May 02 '26

We do indeed. Occasionally we also venture out on our holidays to other places, though we are sadly told to be aware of going to America at the moment due to some of us being held in detention for having "opinions" about your Orange Overlord.... (I wish I wasn't joking)

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u/Fenris_Icefang May 02 '26

Brits staying in Britain? I have news for you. It’s called your colonial era.

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u/HazelEBaumgartner May 02 '26

LOOK AT US, FATHER. LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE CREATED AND WEEP.

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u/candidlyfrasersridge May 02 '26

Omg. This is freaking amazing! Giggling sooo hard

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u/SowwieWhopper May 02 '26

The whole country is one big Silent Hill

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u/throwaway098764567 May 02 '26

sure feels like a disturbed dream these days, wish i could wake up

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u/Visible_Ad_309 May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26

As an American in America, I often look around and ask, "Are Americans really this stupid?"

As an American in London, I noticed painting on the roadways "Look This Way→" and learned that we are in fact that stupid.

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u/HeftyVermicelli7823 May 02 '26

Not all of you are though (we also have some stupid people here as well as you know), I have some very nice smart America friends, one who was sane enough to start their emigration to New Zealand and has been accepted thankfully.

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u/XC5TNC May 02 '26

Wouldn't really call that smart, our economy is kind of going to shit and so many kiwis are leaving each day mostly to Australia, its extremely expensive to live here and we dont get paid very well either. Honestly id say it would be nice to visit here but living here isnt so great these days

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u/MothmanAcolyte May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26

It's not just America that the Look This Way notice is for though. It's for most of the rest of the world besides most former British colonies (and Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia)

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u/Frosty-Scallion5849 May 02 '26

I live here and I agree. It’s like it’s been the worst fever dream that’s lasted a year and a half.

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u/Internet-Dweller2 May 02 '26

It's real, but also disturbed

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u/RiceCaspar May 02 '26

As an American, I've felt like this for the last decade....oh God, it's been 10 years.

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u/North1884 May 02 '26

I live in America & I wish that were the case

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u/spacenymph5376 May 02 '26

Wait until you hear about Australia!

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u/Cultural-Pen-4-Men May 02 '26

laughing in South Park Canadian

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u/Brilliant_Award2877 May 02 '26

And we cant wake up

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u/[deleted] May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26

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u/HeftyVermicelli7823 May 02 '26

We do live on sarcasm a lot, helps to pass the time.

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u/Sandi_Griffin May 02 '26

I live in the UK and have never in my life heard them be called skittles lol

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u/licoricenipple May 02 '26

Skittles is also the game itself, it's very old and the precursor to bowling. If you haven't heard the term it's probably because you're under 60, ask your grandparents. Goes back to the 1400s and it was the major pub game before snooker/billiards/pool and darts replaced it. Before that it was played outdoors and like lawn bowls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skittles_(sport)

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u/StandFew6499 May 02 '26

I’m under 60 and gave heard of skittles - have played them in a pub but that was about 30 yrs ago.

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u/No_Investigator9059 May 02 '26

I have for the little kids toys version I think, maybe my nan used it but at a bowling alley they'd be bowling pins

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u/Sandi_Griffin May 02 '26

Oooh I remember it on the kids toys actually but yeah not at a bowling alley 

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u/XC5TNC May 02 '26

Im from NZ and even iknew about skittles, they come in many different flavours jk

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u/[deleted] May 02 '26

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u/skoormit May 02 '26

Is that like a bustle in your hedgerow?

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u/NastyMangos May 02 '26

Um no we don’t that’s a different game 

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u/Dependent_One6034 May 02 '26

This is like saying "Baseball" is called "rounders" in the UK.

It's not - they are different sports.

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u/AncientLynx May 02 '26 edited May 03 '26

Now 'Beer & Skittles' makes a whole lot more sense

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u/Tallman_james420 May 02 '26

Skittles are called skittles if you're playing skittles in the UK.

If you're 10 pin bowling, they are definitely called bowling pins.

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u/MaddingtonFair May 02 '26

No, skittles and bowling aren’t the same 

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u/expensive_habbit May 02 '26

Most bits actually interact with bowling through ten pin bowling, not skittles, and call it bowling (sounds like rolling)

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u/sevenfiver May 02 '26

so like rolling pin.... ffs

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u/holderofthebees May 02 '26

……rolling…………. rolling.

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u/PhD_Pwnology May 02 '26

Rowling rhymes with Rolling, as in rolling pin. You use it to flatten dough.

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u/pineapplesaltwaffles May 02 '26

If I'm going to be pedantic nerd here... Technically they're not perfect rhymes, they're just homophones.

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u/ffat2puff May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26

Thats some cockney ass logic right there and I think you're right. Nice This begs the question how English ppl pronounce 'bowling'

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u/nWhm99 May 02 '26

That's actually super cute to see a time when she needed to tell people how to say her name lol

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u/G37_is_numberletter May 02 '26

Joke’s on her, i pronounce it BAU-ling (pin)

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u/CaterpillarJungleGym May 02 '26

I think the British call it something different. Like skittle knocking

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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist May 02 '26

Nah, she was trying to make a funny. Like “I have a strange name too, see Rowling, Rolling Pin, get it?”

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u/NightStalkerXIV May 02 '26

Ohh. I don't think I've heard it said that way before, woops.

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u/mickelboy182 May 02 '26

..or, ya know, a rolling pin

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u/DissolvedDreams May 02 '26

Well I’ll always be pronouncing it (g)rowling

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u/filthysoomka May 02 '26

No, that's actually my boweling appointment. Can't miss that one

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u/thriftstoremando May 02 '26

Skittles, Jason!

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u/listenhere111 May 02 '26

Is that was her angle, that's idiotic

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u/Foxy_Maitre_Renard May 02 '26

Ah yes, the ol' Cockney rhyming slang.

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u/Flat-Echidna191 May 02 '26

She's EXTREMELY anal about her last name rhyming with bowling instead of growling, so you're probably correct. It's hilarious how insecure this miserable woman is.

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u/Thelorddogalmighty May 02 '26

Im guessing people called her rowling pin at school. How funny.

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u/neityght May 02 '26

Lmfao so close sweetie 😄

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u/mtvq2007 May 02 '26

I believe in the UK the call them Skittles, not bowling pins.

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u/-KFBR392 May 02 '26

Heh, I’ve been mispronouncing it all this time

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u/Sloredama May 02 '26

They call those Skittles in the UK I believe not pins

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u/KermitTheMawg May 02 '26

What a stretch when it’s right there

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u/Fun_Brother_9333 May 02 '26

That is quite the stretch.

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u/UseComfortable1193 May 02 '26

Should i ever meet her i will adress her with
"j. k. bowling"

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u/daveoxford May 02 '26

Rolling pin. British people don't say "bowling pin".

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u/LotteTakesNoShit May 02 '26

Huh. I've always pronounced it wrong, then. Kudos me.

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u/Mudeford_minis May 03 '26

But she British and rolling pin is more likely to come to mind than bowling pin.

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u/DeanCutty May 03 '26

lol bowling pin when rolling pin is right there

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u/Amerpol May 02 '26

Pain in neck

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u/Oscaruzzo May 02 '26

That's because her name is pronounced John Rolling (pin) /s

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u/vegmonk May 02 '26

Actually, it stands for "Personal Inscription." It’s just a term book collectors use to show the author wrote a specific message to someone instead of just signing their name.

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u/SnooHabits7732 May 02 '26

As a trans person, I'm choosing to believe she was at some point self-aware of being a pinhead.

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u/untreated-stupidity May 02 '26

She is laughing at her own name to make the note seem more light hearted 

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u/Ramblingsofthewriter May 02 '26

I think it’s to say it’s pronounced like “rolling pin.” And not like the pronunciation of “row”. (Like a fight)

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u/Worldly_Science239 May 02 '26

It was probably the name people used to tease her in school - it fits in with the what she wrote and was using it as an example.

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u/Duck_Duck_Duck_Duck1 May 02 '26

"When Joanne screwed up her face" what does this mean?

e/ oh the book page

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u/Any-Worldliness-679 May 02 '26

It means she sees herself with a particular identity and wants to ensure you respect that and refer to her as she identifies.

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u/hyperspacefool May 02 '26

I think the inclusion of (pin) speaks volumes bc it shows she was trying to make you laugh at her name, indicating that it is in fact ok to laugh at other people's names. After all, she was clearly reacting in a "oh god THAT'S your name, you poor thing?..." kind of way and you caught her in the act, so she was saying you shouldn't be so obvious about it by laughing out loud. In other words, it was more of a "doN't lAugh At otHer peOpLe's names WINK WINK "

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u/Heartage May 03 '26

why does she sign "JK Rowlig"

Too worried about other people's names when she can't even spell her own, smh my head.

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u/Spidey6917 May 04 '26

She’s making fun of her own name

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u/Scary-Brandon May 08 '26

It's so her message stays on that front page and it didn't get lost in the book as she wrote the rest of the story

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