Texan politician: Asians should change their names to something easier

Started by Martinus, April 11, 2009, 05:51:44 PM

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Syt

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CountDeMoney

Quote from: Valmy on April 11, 2009, 09:56:33 PM
Quote from: Faeelin on April 11, 2009, 09:46:11 PM
However, this does raise an interesting question. What's the deal with Asians who come to America changing their first names? It's not just parents changing their kids' names; I have a friend who's here on a work-visa from Korea, and he goes by the name Ryan.

Yeah it would be weird if I worked in Korea and told everybody to call me Yi.  Is that some sort of Asian cultural thing?  Do Chinese people take a Japanese name if they move to Japan?

Oooh, I call dibs on Ichiro.

CountDeMoney

Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 11, 2009, 09:52:09 PMit's the black students and some of the Hispanic students that have some bizzare first names.

There's about 11 ways they spell "Antoine", and you don't even want to know the way they butcher "Jasmine".

The Larch

Asian Americans can then take nice proper white surnames to clarify things. I suggest them looking for Polish, Lithuanian, former Yugoslav and Basque ones. Those should do it.

Ed Anger

Quote from: The Larch on April 12, 2009, 11:49:39 AM
Asian Americans can then take nice proper white surnames to clarify things. I suggest them looking for Polish, Lithuanian, former Yugoslav and Basque ones. Those should do it.

nobody wants to be called Wiktor or Andrzej or BOGUSŁAW.
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katmai

Quote from: The Larch on April 12, 2009, 11:49:39 AM
Asian Americans can then take nice proper white surnames to clarify things. I suggest them looking for Polish, Lithuanian, former Yugoslav and Basque ones. Those should do it.
:mad:
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DontSayBanana

Quote from: CountDeMoney on April 12, 2009, 06:02:44 AM
There's about 11 ways they spell "Antoine", and you don't even want to know the way they butcher "Jasmine".
Jazmynne FTL.
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Caliga

Quote from: Faeelin on April 12, 2009, 01:01:47 AMWTF? African-Americans are stealing names from the Narn?

Generally speaking, ghetto mamas seem to want to give their kids either normal names or African ones.  In the case, of the former, they can't spell for shit, which is where ANTWAAN comes from.  In the case, of the latter, the majority of them cannot speak Igbo or Mandinka, so just make up fantasy names that sound different and declare them to be African.  Also they think apostrophes help make them African.  Hence Q'IONAH.
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The Larch

Quote from: katmai on April 12, 2009, 04:48:03 PM
Quote from: The Larch on April 12, 2009, 11:49:39 AM
Asian Americans can then take nice proper white surnames to clarify things. I suggest them looking for Polish, Lithuanian, former Yugoslav and Basque ones. Those should do it.
:mad:

Yours doesn't count, it doesn't even sound Basque at all. Try some Urrutikoetxea, Basagoiti, Zumalakarregi, Arruabarrena, Ormaetxega or Agirretxe, for a change.  :P

Malthus

We have a new headline to replace "Worthwile Canadian Initiative": "Texas Lawmaker Says Something Outrageously Stupid".  :D
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Valmy

Quote from: Malthus on April 13, 2009, 10:56:46 AM
We have a new headline to replace "Worthwile Canadian Initiative": "Texas Lawmaker Says Something Outrageously Stupid".  :D

The nice thing abou the Democrats being in power is other states get to be humiliated on the national stage for awhile.
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Jacob

Quote from: Faeelin on April 11, 2009, 09:46:11 PM
However, this does raise an interesting question. What's the deal with Asians who come to America changing their first names? It's not just parents changing their kids' names; I have a friend who's here on a work-visa from Korea, and he goes by the name Ryan.

It's usually not a change, it's an addition.  So if Chow Sing-Chi moves to the US or gets involved in an industry where having an English name is useful he might become Stephen Chow Sing-Chi.  He doesn't change Sing-Chi to Stephen, he simply adds another name.  I think it's similar for Japanese and Koreans.

I think that's the general pattern, though of course individuals do all sorts of things for individual reasons.

As an aside, my wife's Chinese last name is much easier to pronounce for English speakers than my Danish one.

Maximus

Quote from: Caliga on April 13, 2009, 07:32:19 AM
Generally speaking, ghetto mamas seem to want to give their kids either normal names or African ones.  In the case, of the former, they can't spell for shit, which is where ANTWAAN comes from.  In the case, of the latter, the majority of them cannot speak Igbo or Mandinka, so just make up fantasy names that sound different and declare them to be African.  Also they think apostrophes help make them African.  Hence Q'IONAH.
That doesn't explain La-a, pronounced "La-dash-ay".

:huh: Here I was thinking the dash was silent.