Though I am quite well aware of the
disproportionate volume of writeups on
E2 relating to
The Simpsons (excellent show that it is), I will venture another.
I recently got into a squabble with Sylvar (in retrospect, my fault) that began over a dispute in the spelling of Apu's last name. In fact, on the official Simpsons website, it is spelled "NahasapeemapetilOn." I had heretofore seen the inclusion of the "o" as a common but understandable mistake. So I checked it out, and it turned out that the site backed Sylvar's contention, and the rest is history.
The other day I caught the episode involving the Bear Patrol and the anti-immigrant Proposition 24. Apu is forced to pay Fat Tony $2,000 for a series of fake IDs, including a passport. He shows this to Homer, and it clearly shows his name spelled as NahasapeemapetilAn (as a careful analysis of the video revealed). I consider it unlikely that Apu would pay for an ID that included a misspelling of his name; however, as this is exactly the sort of thing that Ellis Island workers did to numerous immigrants in their day, I can let it slide.
So which version is authoritative? I guess I have to defer to the owners of the Simpsons trademarks, but I do so under protest.
My apologies to those who would consider this writeup unnecessary node-clutter, but I will shut up about it now.
UPDATE: This writeup has sunk to -2, but I
persist in my
protest. I would point viewers to yet another
episode where
Apu's name is spelled
NahasapeemapetilAn on-screen: In the
octuplets episode, a
newspaper headline is flashed which reads "Nahasapeemapetilan-tastic!" This "
play on words," if it can so be called, would not work if Apu's
surname was spelled with an "o." Downvote me if you want, but will continue following
Gandhi's
doctrine of "satyagraha"--"holding onto the truth."