Weener or Winer?

Congressman Anthony Weiner has chosen to pronounce his name "Wee-ner." However, he might have saved himself a bit of ribbing throughout his life if he had pronounced it as it should be: "Winer." In German, you always pronounce the second letter in an ei/ie combination.

The name Weiner means "one who makes wine," while the name Wiener means "one who is from Vienna" (spelled Wien in German). Americans have adopted the word "wiener" for sausages that originated in Vienna -- and for the subject of Mr. Weiner's Twitter photos.

Sure, Rep. Weiner would still endure plenty of ridicule in light of the current scandal. But the pundits would have had to work a bit harder.