They’re no less bizarre in Japanese, since they would have roughly the same meaning.
There’s a Japanese comedian named Aiko Tanaka. You should look her up on YouTube.
One of her best lines was, “My name is Aiko Tanaka. Aiko means ‘love child.’ I looked that up in the dictionary, and it said ‘bastard.’ Tanaka means ‘in the rice field.’ So my whole name means, ‘bastard in the rice field.’”
All girls.
Honestly… In terms of dating I would have to make a strong effort to get them to change their name before ever introducing them to my family. Perhaps a forgotten Seinfeld episode?
Grandma: So what’s her name?
Me: Pig.
Grandma: What?
Me: Pig.
Grandma: You’re dating a pig?
Me: No. Grandma… She’s… She’s Taiwanese.
Grandma: You’re dating a Taiwanese pig?
Me: Yes!
Grandma: . . . . I don’t like it.
The “Idiots” thread is absolutely the correct place to discuss the English naming situation here in Taiwan, although I think it’s separate from and not as bad as the stupid names native speakers select for their children.
I’ve heard a lot of strange names here, but (at the risk of being called a China shill ) China is still the best for them. I’ve actually met a Gandalf.
They obviously aren’t that cultured to be thinking of Mercedes in that way. It is a common stripper name in the US. And they’re going around saying his English name is “Louis” when they can’t speak a word of French and can’t even pronounce it correctly or know anything past Louis Vuitton. It typical 土豪 stuff.
I think his point is that Louis Armstrong wasn’t named after a manbag. The thought process matters. If Kennedy had sent men to the moon in order to secure US self-sufficiency in cheese, that would have made the whole thing stupid, even if the goal itself was impressive.