[quote=“bismarck”]
Ariel (Yes, as in The Little Mermaid - a 30 year old guy)[/quote]
Ariel was the second choice for my son’s name (We settled on Aaron).
There are some Ariels that are 1000X tougher than any Forumosans, Canadians or Saffies on this board combined 
[quote=“cfimages”][quote=“bismarck”]
Ariel (Yes, as in The Little Mermaid - a 30 year old guy)[/quote]
The Little Mermaid has got to be better than Ariel Sharon.[/quote]
What kind of weak statement is this?
[quote=“ChewDawg”][quote=“cfimages”][quote=“bismarck”]
Ariel (Yes, as in The Little Mermaid - a 30 year old guy)[/quote]
The Little Mermaid has got to be better than Ariel Sharon.[/quote]
What kind of weak statement is this? [/quote]
One’s a cartoon character, the other’s a war criminal. 
[quote=“cfimages”][quote=“bismarck”]
Ariel (Yes, as in The Little Mermaid - a 30 year old guy)[/quote]
The Little Mermaid has got to be better than Ariel Sharon.[/quote]
Nope. Wrong Ariel (pronunciation). Pronounced the same as the mermaid, not General Sharon.
[quote=“cfimages”][quote=“ChewDawg”][quote=“cfimages”][quote=“bismarck”]
Ariel (Yes, as in The Little Mermaid - a 30 year old guy)[/quote]
The Little Mermaid has got to be better than Ariel Sharon.[/quote]
What kind of weak statement is this? [/quote]
One’s a cartoon character, the other’s a war criminal. [/quote]
Gotta hand it to you for recognising Ariel Sharon of IsraHell for being a war criminal!
[quote=“bismarck”][quote=“cfimages”][quote=“bismarck”]
Ariel (Yes, as in The Little Mermaid - a 30 year old guy)[/quote]
The Little Mermaid has got to be better than Ariel Sharon.[/quote]
Nope. Wrong Ariel (pronunciation). Pronounced the same as the mermaid, not General Sharon.[/quote]
I’ve not seen the Little Mermaid so figured the pronunciation would be the same.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
[quote=“cfimages”][quote=“bismarck”][quote=“cfimages”][quote=“bismarck”]
Ariel (Yes, as in The Little Mermaid - a 30 year old guy)[/quote]
The Little Mermaid has got to be better than Ariel Sharon.[/quote]
Nope. Wrong Ariel (pronunciation). Pronounced the same as the mermaid, not General Sharon.[/quote]
I’ve not seen the Little Mermaid so figured the pronunciation would be the same.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2[/quote]
Nope, more like this:
Mermaid - “Aerial”
Israeli - “Ah ree yel”
My dude pronounces it like the mermaid. 
[quote=“El Toro”][quote=“cfimages”][quote=“ChewDawg”][quote=“cfimages”][quote=“bismarck”]
Ariel (Yes, as in The Little Mermaid - a 30 year old guy)[/quote]
The Little Mermaid has got to be better than Ariel Sharon.[/quote]
What kind of weak statement is this? [/quote]
One’s a cartoon character, the other’s a war criminal. [/quote]
Gotta hand it to you for recognising Ariel Sharon of IsraHell for being a war criminal![/quote]
I agree with about Ariel, but calling his country “IsraHell” is pushing it. I had a student who insisted her name was “Jully.” I helpfully asked if she meant “Julie” or even “Jilly,” but she insisted “Jully.” I didn’t want to be a “Bully” about it, so I called her “Jew Lee.”
From today’s Taipei Times.
[quote]
One netizen going by “Clitier Chen” [/quote]
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/ … 2003537971
What the hell is a netizen? Don’t tell me newspapers are using this non-word.
[quote=“bismarck”]Eudora (girl)
Doha (girl)
Iven (pronounced Ivan - 20 something young woman)
Ariel (Yes, as in The Little Mermaid - a 30 year old guy)[/quote]
Doha’s quite a common Arabic name for girls. I used to have a friend named that, she was lovely.
I have a local cousin.
I asked, “What’s your English name?”
“It’s Linda.”
“Uhhh, you’re a dude…”
“I know.”
True story.
I have a lovely girl, “John” in my class. Pulled her aside to politely let her know it is definitely a boy’s name. She said she knew and thought it would be a funny joke, and refused to even hear alternatives.
She’s a kick to have in class and I rather like her, so “John” it is!
However, if she reaches that goal of studying abroad, we’re gonna have a talk. Another one.
[quote=“tsukinodeynatsu”][quote=“bismarck”]Eudora (girl)
Doha (girl)
Iven (pronounced Ivan - 20 something young woman)
Ariel (Yes, as in The Little Mermaid - a 30 year old guy)[/quote]
Doha’s quite a common Arabic name for girls. I used to have a friend named that, she was lovely.[/quote]
Yeah, but she’s not Arabic. Wil likely never have any interaction with Arabs and using that name with English speakers from most any country will seem weird, especially the way she pronounces it. I actually prefer it if they just use the Romanized version of their Chinese name or whatever their friends call them, but whatever.
Maybe I should change my “Chinese” name to Hirohito. 
Just working my way through some awful code written by Taiwanese “engineers”.
In one of the comment blocks, one of the coders has included his English name for our amusement.
Ready?
Dominant Yang.
New adult student on Sunday.
Me: What’s your name?
New Guy: Javen
Me: Where’d you get that name?
New Guy: I made it myself.
Me: 
This has nothing to do with bizarre names for people, but years ago, a c++ programmer in our group liked to use these names to declare her variables.
int king, queen, prince, princess, cinderella, pocahondas;
If (queen > king ) {
princess += prince;
}
[quote=“fh2000”]This has nothing to do with bizarre names for people, but years ago, a c++ programmer in our group liked to use these names to declare her variables.
int king, queen, prince, princess, cinderella, pocahondas;
If (queen > king ) {
princess += prince;
}[/quote]
FFS. I have no problem with foo’s and bar’s where it’s obvious they’re just throwaways, but anyone who uses names like that for important things (ie., things that have real meaning and could be assigned a sensible name) ought to have their PC taken away and replaced with a bank of toggle switches and a paper-tape drive until they learn some manners.
This is actually quite popular in the UK these days (and presumably in other English-speaking countries too). Parents, especially those who can’t spell, seem to think it’s sophisticated to make up some random word to name their child. I bet there is at least one Javen living in Bradford or Hull.
[quote=“bismarck”]New adult student on Sunday.
Me: What’s your name?
New Guy: Javen
Me: Where’d you get that name?
New Guy: I made it myself.
Me: [/quote]
In the States, it is not unusual to see strange, self-invented names. Don’t see anything wrong with that. Why is it only correct to use religious names, made up by some ancient people out of their own fancy?
Google, you will find plenty of Javen.’
Javen | Name Meaning & Origin | Boy Name Javen | Baby Names World
Popularity Rank of Javen US top 1000 names since 1880
Javen - Rankings by Year
Year Boys
2007 977
2006 954
2004 937
2003 922
2002 900
In some countries of south america is even worse. More than just a couple of guys named “Onedollar” “Zapato” (shoe) or other weird names. What I wonder is… how high were the parents when decided to brand their child?