[quote=“finley”]The parents of “Okay” must have been a bit disappointed. What must it be like to go through life knowing you weren’t a Gift or a Blessing, or Precious, or Brilliant, but just Okay.
I wonder if Limited turned out to be limited or not. Apparently, nominative determinism is a real ‘thing’.
I’d say “Elvis” is a problem for the same reason “Adolf” is a problem. Too much historical association. People will snigger, even though neither name is inherently silly.[/quote]
There are no Myras where I live because of a famous child killer.
Those kind of names were common in Victorian England: Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, and the other virtues.
A few years ago, lo, a child was born in Clydebank called Pocahontas MacCampbell. Hehe.
Male student calling himself Judy in one of my sophomore classes. Chinese name is something like Yang, Jing-kuan so maybe its supposed to be a homonym (fnar fnar, he said homo) but I suspect he just did it to confuse my role-calling.
(role-calling, not name-calling, or gender-role stereotyping, OK?)
Get ready for this one: Bacteria
I kid you not. She was a 21 year old student and I repeated that she understood the meaning and I asked her to clarify what
she thought it meant. She was expressive and seemingly normal, other than the name.
There was no hope.
New girl in my work called Maybe. Her surname? You.
Lots of times she thinks people are talking about her when asking someone else: “Maybe you could help me…”
[quote=“calitotaiwan”]Get ready for this one: Bacteria
I kid you not. She was a 21 year old student and I repeated that she understood the meaning and I asked her to clarify what
she thought it meant.[/quote]
What was her response?
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.
) China is still the best for them. I’ve actually met a Gandalf.