Mean talking about Ronald

Ok... it's mean what I'm gonna say. You see... that's a bad habit of mine !!

I mentioned my friend Ronald the other day. Well, Ronald has a funny surname. And his surname is his real surname but it's so common (like Miller) that I can tell it here. No problem. Besides, Ronald is a funny guy himself... he always makes fun of himself so he won't mind.

His last name is Dumbfield. Yep... it's true! Now, what I always wondered but didn't dare to ask him: What's 'field' to do with 'dumb'?? Or have you ever seen a 'dumb field'? That doesn't make sense at all - and I've thought that for all the years that I know Ronny now.

But then it hit me lately: Ronny mentioned one day that some of his male European ancestors who at times became soldiers had actually little luck as such. As the story goes they usually didn't manage to see the end of the respective war in good health. They are even said to have not been of great use for their respective warlords. So... maybe as a kind of self-punishement or result of their embarassement, maybe because their former warlord forced them to, they adopted 'Dumbfield' as their family name.

Having the martial background of his ancestors in mind the riddle about my friends' surname is certainly easy to unveil: I'm pretty sure now that his ancestors were not very successful or lucky in the field of war. So... to be 'dumb in the field' explains itself: It's simply someone who is a little dumb in the handicraft of war.

Second clue for my assumption: the word 'field' from his name means actually 'feld' in German. So, a guy who was said to be 'in the field' was actually taking part in some kind of war. Funny, isn't it? Why didn't they just say: He's taking part in a war. Instead they hid his true profession by saying: He's 'in the field'.

Must ask Ronny next time we meet if my assumptions are right !