What do you call a foreigner with a weird name?

the_syco

Yo.
What do you call a foreigner with a weird name? In "The Last Samuari", one of the non-speaking Samurai was called "Bob". In a place I used to work, one of the guys was "christined" Bob, as we couldn't pronounce his name.

I've known people who visit places such as Vietnam to call the locals "Bob" as their actual name was unpronouncable.

And before you start shouting "racist", I'd like you to ask how a chinese person gets an english-sounding name. I always though it was the translation of their name, untill I found out from a few of them, that on working in their first job, the boss couldn't remember their name, so the boss called them Sean, James, Paul, etc.

=-=

I call them Bob.

Blisterman

I know Irish people who just come up with names for people and stick with them. I'm Jimmy.

Gilgamesh

I normally take Bob, if I could name a Planet I would call it Bob

fragile

Batman

I am MAN

Rick Johnston.

azezil

I just call everyone Mandy...

Sleipnir

why don't we just call everyone Bob?
It would save us having to remember everyone's name.

Or will we just do that to the foreigners?
Oh no, that would.......be.........?......ah.

MorningStar

I think it offensive to not try and get these peoples names correct. If they can pronounce it you can. I have an Irish name and while I worked in the UK certain people choose to pronounce it incorrectly or call me "Paddy"/"Mick".

It was intentional bullying. While you may not mean something by it somebody else might use it to bully.

Dr. Loon

the_syco wrote:

Yo.
What do you call a foreigner with a weird name? In "The Last Samuari", one of the non-speaking Samurai was called "Bob". In a place I used to work, one of the guys was "christined" Bob, as we couldn't pronounce his name.

I've known people who visit places such as Vietnam to call the locals "Bob" as their actual name was unpronouncable.

And before you start shouting "racist", I'd like you to ask how a chinese person gets an english-sounding name. I always though it was the translation of their name, untill I found out from a few of them, that on working in their first job, the boss couldn't remember their name, so the boss called them Sean, James, Paul, etc.

=-=

I call them Bob.

Why not just put a bit of effort in and learn their name. I remember in our local there was a chinese lounge boy, we asked him his name one night and he said Jim. We asked him his proper name, and he told us. I can't remember it now, but I made the effort to call him by his proper name. Would you like if Chinese dudes wouldn't learn your name, and called you Chun Fat instead? Or am I missing the point?

frany

MorningStar wrote:

I think it offensive to not try and get these peoples names correct. If they can pronounce it you can. I have an Irish name and while I worked in the UK certain people choose to pronounce it incorrectly or call me "Paddy"/"Mick".

It was intentional bullying. While you may not mean something by it somebody else might use it to bully.

Yes I agree with you. Actually my ID is my English one but my irish family don't like to call that. They think my real Korean name is better.

*Page*

Gilgamesh wrote:

I normally take Bob, if I could name a Planet I would call it Bob

ha ha in school a girl drew a picture and we named it bob then she was called bob and now we all are bob to each other(",)


ps i get called natalie(not my name) natasha(not my name) sophie(not my name) or Smally(nick name!!)

pickarooney

I think if I were Chinese I'd just call myself John or something rather than go through the laborious task of trying to get every thick-tongued mumbler in sight to pronounce my name with the right intonation and inflection.
I always get called by local versions of my name, and use it myself when abroad, it's just a lot easier.

smoke.me.a.kipper

'dave' like trigger does to rodney in only fools.

Megatron

I'd Learn how to pronounce thier name. simple.

In finland my names is pronouced Yamis , I'm irish , and no matter how hard i tried i couldn't get them to say James. however i change 1 letter in there and they pronouce that perfect ... jamer .... bloody weird .


Plus on the point of been in a different country ( I.e. UK) and beeing called Paddy/mick is really ****ty , so while i was living over there and people who tried to keep it up calling me that .. i'd just start ranting at them about being opressed for 800 years , and that it was my time to steal all thier women ;P

They got the idea after the first time , every time.

And no .. i didn't get too many women

Gilgamesh

*Page* wrote:

ha ha in school a girl drew a picture and we named it bob then she was called bob and now we all are bob to each other(",)


ps i get called natalie(not my name) natasha(not my name) sophie(not my name) or Smally(nick name!!)

so how should we call you :cool:

shelsfan

There was a flash film before with George W Bush and he couldn't pronounce the Nigerian president's name in a press conference, so he just called him, "Mister man who came here from Africa"
Has a nice ring to it doesn't it?....

penguinbloke

I have trouble remembering names so for women it's betty or susan for men it's billy or johnny no legs just makes it easier.

although after one drunken night in space my new name was Saul McRainbow
and there was also a newly christened Betty Rooney and a Gavin MacMcIntosh walking around

Hobbes

Try learning to say thier name.

If they are Chinese though they tend to have an English name as well as a chinese name (not because someone couldn't say thier name and gave it to them). You can ask them if they have one and can you call them by that.

Blitzkrieger

'Bud' is always good for anybody who's name you can't remember. Or 'You', if it's a woman.

"How are YOU doing?", "Nice to see YOU again", etc., etc.

kano476

theres some spanish guy in my school and his name sounds like potato - so we just call him potato, also anyone from anywhere east of russia and west of china is "the bulgarian" even though one of them is from uruguay.

they don't seem to mind/notice

aidan_walsh

Charlie if they're Vietnamiese, Jerry if they're German.

But seriously, I like to try to make an effort to learn their names... I just think of it as should I move "there" and "they" can't pronounce my name, how would I like to be forceably renamed? Not one little bit, I tell you...

Slunk

"man" or "bud" normally do the trick but theres a chinese guy in my class in college and we just call him "conor". I dont think he minds, he tried to get us to say his name properly at the start of the year but to no avail, ever since he has been "conor"

Flukey

A person's name is their name and that is what we should try and use. We shouldn't just use something else because we find it hard to pronounce it. We should make the effort. If the person themselves has another name that they answer to, then fair enough, but we should try and use the proper name.

pickarooney

I actually get a bit annoyed when people stop mid-sentence and twist their mouths to say my name in its normal form, then twist them back to continue the sentence. It just sounds forced and weird, like when your answering machine goes: "you have reached the answering service of PADDY MCGRORY!!!!. unfortunately PADDY MCGRORY!!! is not here right now but if you leave a message PADDY MCGRORY!!! will call you back."

It may be just me though.

Pet

What kind of name do you have, is it Chinese or Japanese? Most IRISH people can't pronounce my surname properly, so much so that I now go by the Irish "O" version cos it's easier..

Thumper Long

HORSE is a name for all occasions, I don't discriminate by race, color, creed everybodys horse.

bbblueyes

I think it all depends on the person. My friends all had nicknames, mine was d*ckhead and my name is a frikkin month. They just didn't call me by my name. I'm sensitive but I didn't get all whiny and crap over it. No one ever got my last name right and I'd rather they not use it than abuse it. As long as it's not something demeaning or racist, which I don't believe calling someone Bob is (unless they have no arms or legs, then it's not funny anymore), then I don't believe it's mean.

Sleipnir wrote:

why don't we just call everyone Bob?
It would save us having to remember everyone's name.

My friend preferred to be called Bob because she though Angela was too hard for people to remember.

*Page*

no-one gets my name right. i'm irish and i dont have an irish name. my teachers in school made up names(in irish) for me because my name has no translation!!

so i just smile and nod, i rarely get pi$$ed off about it but there was this one time........

plus people laugh alot at my surname so i say it really quick and people think i said something different,
"smode" instead of my real surname

SantaHoe

I once worked with a few Chinese guys who had english names, as far as I remember they chose the names themselves... the names were actually really cool, not standard names like Bob and James, but names of things from nature... I wish most Irish people would be so adventurous... we wouldn't have a million Connors and Johns. :rolleyes:

Over the course of my working there, I picked up a wee bit of Chinese (mandarin? I'm not sure) and one thing they kept picking me up on was my pronunciation/intonation... it seems to me that even though you've got the sound of each letter in each word pronounced right (at least in your own mind) it doesn't make sense to a Chinese speaker unless the formation of each sound is spot-on... like we'd understand a German speaking broken english, but I think if we're that far off when speaking Chinese, the words become something non-sensical.
I guess it takes practice working on your vocal muscle-memory to be able to form some of these sounds... I'd almost get cramps in my tounge trying to get it right.
*Cue 15 minutes of*
Me: sur
Him: no! no! ... "s.. urh.. hr"
Me: surr
Him: no! no! (etc)

So I think my point at this stage, is that although we think we're being clever trying to pronounce their name, it's probably still miles off and doesn't sound anything like it.
If it were me, I'd be like "Ok, whatever just call me Jim, I'm not standing here for 2 hours trying to teach you this stuff." .. especially if everyone you meet is like "wha? <insert rubbish pronunciation here>?!"

Although I think if you know someone over a certain amount of time, it's nice to know their homeland name, but I can see how having an easier name (for english speakers) can save you the pain of telling someone your name over and over again, say if you've just met someone in a pub.

This is just my own (limited) take on it anyway, I'd be curious to hear from a Chinese speaker on the whole "bad pronunciation = makes no sense" idea.

][cEMAN**

I have trouble remembering people's names at times, so rather than call some people by their name and not mentioning other people's names, I either call them 'man' or 'kid'.

Man if I don't know them too well, kid if I do, or if I like them.

Some people find being called 'kid' offensive, especially as they're usually older than me, but it's my term of affection.

Though I like 'bob'. Most people from around my way just call everyone 'boss'

"Aright boss? What about ye boss?"

NikNik

I know someone who's dead set on changing their name to "Endrick" because of an inside joke. They've already started to receive mail with the name.

I'd change my surname.......something deadly like "Ferrari" or "Brazil" or "Rockafella" (any suggestions?)

On Topic: Like Santahoe said, Asian names are more meaningful. For example, a Thai girl I went to boarding school with had a name (can't remember it now) that meant "little prawn". Her dad named her that cuz it's what she looked like when she came out......

I wonder what they would call Jackie Stallone

A.S.H.

People are always getting my name wrong, it's a longish name but when I introduce myself they usually repeat back jsut the first part and having gotten tired of correcting people I just say "yeah" it doesn't bother me and I find it more annoying correcting people than hearing them get it wrong. The thing is I didn't chose my name it was given to me by my parents. I like it but at the end of the day it's purpose is to just diferentiate me from someone else and if the wrong name does that then it's job is done.

I am terrible at remembering names and so rarely refer to people by name, this could be why I'm not bothered if they don't get my name right

Kingsize

i worked with a chinese guy once, he called himself "wilson" which is quite cool
theres a chinese girl who works in my brother's job called "Kelis"

Dont be at yourself

"If they can pronounce it, so can we" is a ridiculous statement.

In our early formative years, we pick up basic sounds in speech that we learn to recognise and say (the irish have about 40, I think, the english slightly less, the italians even fewer...). We take these sounds from our environment and from the language being spoken around us. As such, people brought up on the other side of the world can't differentiate between the same sounds like we can. Most japanese people have trouble differentiating the 'L' sound from an 'R' sound, as there is no 'L' sound in the japanese language, and so on. This applies both ways, so while we are, to our ears, pronouncing a person's name correctly, they might be hearing something different!

People need to integrate themselves into the culture they're living in, and that means having a name that is pronouncable by that culture. That's not racist, it's not offensive, it's practicality and common sense.

kinkstr

Errol Flugenheim

Santa Claus

I have some guys working for me who are based in a call center in Manilla (Yes, even Santa has outsourced to Asia) and there's 2 of them there who chose Elvis as their English name.....so we call them Elvis X and Elvis B.
Full marks to them though for picking that name....Pure Class !

There's a new guy who just started there yesterday and his first name is xiao liao but he couldn't find a good english name that wasn't already taken (after 2 Elvis's we decided only 1 of each name in the office to avoid confusion), so a few of us here suggested he take Frodo which he did !

We're having an in office poll of what to suggest to next new person that joins....Current favourites is Optimus Prime!

Haket

Sometimes, a quick way (while still kinda using their name) is to refer to them by their initials ?

So: xiao liao would he "XL" which is a pretty cool name :-)

Trojan

I've seen a few posts on (other) boards from Asian guys looking for suggestions for names.

I'm with the Bob people. We can call girls Bobette (like Lorena Bobette, eh?)

The_Conductor

Brother (who has red hair) was continuously called McCarrot for a year while in Kenya. In retrospect he can see the funny side of it- but used to furious at the time.

I went to an all-Irish school, where Shane was "Irish-ised" into Sean. This is also the Irish for John. I've become used to being accosted by strangers in the street with greetings such as "How's it going Johnny..." In work Shane was shortened to Shay- I have no idea why As long as someone doesn't appear to be taking the piss, and is looking in my general direction, I now answer to virtually any name (unless its abusive, in which case they get a double dose back).....

the_syco

SantaHoe wrote:

*Cue 15 minutes of*
Me: sur
Him: no! no! ... "s.. urh.. hr"
Me: surr
Him: no! no! (etc)

I can't remember "normal" names too easily. I was able to pronounce their name after a few goes (I got them to pronounce it, and I wrote down what it sounded like, and repeated ti back to them), but they found it less ofensive if I called them by the English names, as a slight miss could mean affending them (calling them the Chinese version cr4p for example).

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

Flukey

A light hearted look at this topic:

http://www.jibjab.com/play.asp?contentid=43&groupid=2

stuey

I call most people chump or chumpy, or sir/madam. Depending on whats running thru my head

NikNik

NikNik wrote:

I'd change my surname.......something deadly like "Ferrari" or "Brazil" or "Rockafella" (any suggestions?)

Hasselhoff.

Santa Claus

Mercury_Tilt wrote:

This post has been deleted.

What can I say Merc....This bloody elf union will be the death of me.
I'm seriously considering getting a few oompa Loompa's off Willy Wonka.....they've no interest in unions as long as they get their singing breaks !

NikNik

Myth wrote:

Hasselhoff.

lmao

Third_Echelon

Blitzkrieger wrote:

'Bud' is always good for anybody who's name you can't remember......

My toes curl up, steam comes out my ears and my eyes turn red when someone addresses me with 'Bud'.... :eek:

It just makes my skin crawl, and i live in Dublin so you hear it quite a bit...

Usually with strangers, im not their buddy, so why do they use this?? *mind boggles*

I think you should make a conscious effort to pronounce someones name they way its meant to be pronounced. Fair enough, if someone introduces themselves with an anglification of their name or an english alternative name, then thats alright but english speakers seem to always take the lazy option with pronouncing foreigners names properly.... just my 2c worth.

Unpossible

In finland my names is pronouced Yamis

Yeah there are a few finnish names that could apply to me (Mika, Mikko etc..), or the usual eastern european verson of my name (Mikael). But I make a point of just telling everyone my name is Mike (or IrishMike).

There are quiet a few vietnamese and chinese people in my class, its not too hard to learn their names (although one or two I just cant remember). One of the chinese guys just picked an english name for himself.

Im not sure where Im going with all this, just try to learn peoples names.


PS finnish names are f**ked up, some of them are harder to pronounce than the chinese ones

Third_Echelon

^^^ ive a few friends from that part of the world as well... some unusual names alright.. finnish is one tough language. I once got a lesson one day in work from a finnish colleague over lunchtime... tough stuff..