2200 Daisy

What's in a name? Well apparently, a lot. The famous Shakespeare phrase "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" sets aside the whole notion of cultural conditioning. If the other name for rose was "rancid pustule" I'm not sure anyone would stoop to smell it.

So consider the word Margarita. A lovely lyrical sort of name. Puts one in mind of bonita or senorita. The bonita senorita Margarita.

Plus, it's a flavorful drink. The perfect refreshment for a hot day at the beach. A whole blown out flip-flop stepped on pop top culture was launched thanks to the delicious margarita.

But what if I told you that margarita is a Spanish word for daisy? Yes daisy, as in the flower. A margarita by any other name is a daisy.

Still, not bad, the daisy is a lovely flower. But it's also true that we equate the name Daisy with less the parrothead culture and more the bubba culture. Daisy was, after all, the inventor of the slightly trampish cut-off daisy dukes. And while the Dukes of Hazard from which she sprung were a fun slice of Americana they weren't world stage material.

Consider: Margarita is also the Spanish rendering of the name Margaret. And I have known many a Margaret who just didn't ft the Daisy image. 

Such as, perhaps, the historical Margarets, like Queen Margaret of Scotland. Also known as Saint Margaret. She was canonized in 1250 in recognition of her personal holiness and fidelity to the church. Does she sound like a Saint Daisy?

And then, of course, there's the iron lady, Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain. Ronald Reagan's BFF. Somehow Prime Minister Daisy Thatcher just doesn't cut it. Not your basic brinkmanship cold war warrior. 

Who ever heard of an Iron Daisy?

America, ya gotta love it.