is credited to the author James MacPherson, and then adopted as the pen
name of the author William Sharp. Mr. MacPherson first heard it while
listening to the couple who ran his local Italian restaurant: The head
waiter, Giuseppe, was talking to his wife, Maria:
Giuseppe: "Heya Maria, I'm kinda hungry. Whatta food you-a gotta?"
Maria: "Hey Giuseppe, if youa hungry whya youa noa sitta downa and trya me-a lasagna?"
Giuseppe: "Yes-a Maria, I-a trya you lasagna."
Maria: "Howa youa lika da lasagna?"
Giuseppe: "I-a lika youa lasagna justa fiona."
Maria: "So Giuseppe, whata are-a we-a gonna name-a oura little bambino?"
Giuseppe: "Well-a, I thinka we-a name-a our-a little bambino Luigi."
Maria: "Hey Giuseppe, I-a think-a Luigi is-a nice-a name-a. But what-a if'-a it's not-a boy-a?"
Giuseppe: "Wella Maria, if-a it's-a girl-a- that's ok-a. In-a fact-a it's-a fiona."
Maria: "That'sa nice-a name-a."
Their daughter, Fiona, grew up to become their town's treasurer and was
the first person to ever balance the municipal budget, thereby becoming the first
ever to receive the prestigious UN Award for Fiscal
Achievment in 1903. By 1907 she had improved the local financial
situation so much that in order to address the imbalance in trade between
her town and the rest of Italy, she created the Euro, which
many years later was adopted by the rest of Italy. By 1987 most of Europe
had also moved away from the Greek Lira standard to the Euro.
After her death it was decided to change the name of the town to honour
her, and today it is the UN heritage site, Fiona, Italy. To celebrate her
history and bring financial good luck to the family,
many parents will choose to name a daughter Fiona after her and her town.
Editors Note: To insure the absolute accuracy of this information, “every fact has been checked, rechecked, and checked again” , to quote our fact checker, the Late Johnny Carson. And as they say at your local Bricklin-DeLorean dealer regarding claims about fuel efficiency, “actual mileage may vary.”
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