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Off topic: and sometimes he is Superman
Thread poster: aivars
aivars
aivars  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 08:05
English to Spanish
+ ...
Jan 17, 2003

Once in Boliva, which is a pretty strange place even for an Argentinean, I met a friendly local musician. Nothing out of the ordinary so far until he told me his name:

Clark Kent Orozco (confirmed by ID)



An article on similar topic:

http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/10/04/fringe.names.ap/
 
María Alejandra Funes
María Alejandra Funes
Local time: 08:05
English to Spanish
+ ...
:-) Jan 17, 2003

Imagination has no barriers!!!



ALE

 
Parrot
Parrot  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 13:05
Spanish to English
+ ...
Court ruling that set a precedent Jan 17, 2003

I heard about a judge in Sevilla who put his foot down on a mother\'s decision to register her newborn son as \"Kevin Costner de Jesús\". (This was after the generation of the Alisons and Vanessas). Not that I\'m against a parent\'s relative freedom, but Costner is hardly a first name. Was that carrying the fan club a bit too far?

[ This Message was edited by:on2003-01-17 21:20]
 
frenchengl (X)
frenchengl (X)
French to English
and... Jan 17, 2003

Quote:


On 2003-01-17 21:20, Parrot wrote:

I heard about a judge in Sevilla who put his foot down on a mother\'s decision to register her newborn son as \"Kevin Costner de Jesús\". (This was after the generation of the Alisons and Vanessas). Not that I\'m against a parent\'s relative freedom, but Costner is hardly a first name. Was that carrying the fan club a bit too far?

[ This Message was edited by... See more
Quote:


On 2003-01-17 21:20, Parrot wrote:

I heard about a judge in Sevilla who put his foot down on a mother\'s decision to register her newborn son as \"Kevin Costner de Jesús\". (This was after the generation of the Alisons and Vanessas). Not that I\'m against a parent\'s relative freedom, but Costner is hardly a first name. Was that carrying the fan club a bit too far?

[ This Message was edited byn2003-01-17 21:20]



A woman in Spain called \"Dolores Fuertes de Barriga\" no comment. ▲ Collapse
 
Parrot
Parrot  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 13:05
Spanish to English
+ ...
Dolores was practically legend Jan 18, 2003

But one day someone gave me a calling card that said \"Antonio Gordo Machacón\" (boring repeater?) He was a salesman...



In one of the few Philippine provinces where a variant of Chabacano is spoken, a friend\'s grandfather visited the church and saw wedding bans that had been published. A certain Teófilo Ratón (mouse) was to be wed to Elena Podrido (rotten), and would all those who were against the union speak up, or forever hold their peace?



Under Sp... See more
But one day someone gave me a calling card that said \"Antonio Gordo Machacón\" (boring repeater?) He was a salesman...



In one of the few Philippine provinces where a variant of Chabacano is spoken, a friend\'s grandfather visited the church and saw wedding bans that had been published. A certain Teófilo Ratón (mouse) was to be wed to Elena Podrido (rotten), and would all those who were against the union speak up, or forever hold their peace?



Under Spanish/Chabacano nomenclature, the future children were all doomed to be \"rotten mice\", unless they switched to an English system that would discreetly document them as \"P. Ratons\".

[ This Message was edited by:on2003-01-18 11:25] ▲ Collapse
 
Bill Greendyk
Bill Greendyk  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:05
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Aivars Jan 18, 2003

Yes, Bolivia is a pretty unique place, I lived there for 10 years. They do have this strange practice of chosing bizarre names! I know more than one Jeane Claude Rodríguez, or Juan BanDan López. (That\'s the way they pronounce Van Damme anyway!) He seems to be the inspiration of many young Bolivians these days, at least in the areas I was. (That\'s a statement in itself when you begin to analyze it, isn\'t it, that these are the people who are their heroes.) Then you have your parents who ... See more
Yes, Bolivia is a pretty unique place, I lived there for 10 years. They do have this strange practice of chosing bizarre names! I know more than one Jeane Claude Rodríguez, or Juan BanDan López. (That\'s the way they pronounce Van Damme anyway!) He seems to be the inspiration of many young Bolivians these days, at least in the areas I was. (That\'s a statement in itself when you begin to analyze it, isn\'t it, that these are the people who are their heroes.) Then you have your parents who put the English month as the child\'s name: I had students with the names of July, September, April, spelled just as they are in English.



Cecilia, is that a true story??? That\'s one for the records and left me laughing out loud!



Cheers to all,

Bill ▲ Collapse
 
Berni Armstrong
Berni Armstrong  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 13:05
Member
English
+ ...
Whats in a name? Jan 19, 2003

Ceci\'s \"Putrid Rats\" example was so incredible that it must be true!



It is curious how our names have drifted so far away from their origins. We often don\'t even think about the \"meaning\" behind them at all and it is only when we translate them that their apparent absurdity is revealed.



My own name in \"translated\" version would be \"Heart of a Bear with strength in his arms\"- a genetic misnomer for someone as \"weedy\" as me ... See more
Ceci\'s \"Putrid Rats\" example was so incredible that it must be true!



It is curious how our names have drifted so far away from their origins. We often don\'t even think about the \"meaning\" behind them at all and it is only when we translate them that their apparent absurdity is revealed.



My own name in \"translated\" version would be \"Heart of a Bear with strength in his arms\"- a genetic misnomer for someone as \"weedy\" as me



When we were choosing names for our daughter, I was very aware of her initials. As her surnames were going to be Armstrong-Garcia I wanted to avoid a combination of letters that would spell an ugly word. Difficult in English - try it - She was definitely not going to be Barbara, Catherine, or Felicity! And Susan Harriet was out of the question



My wife could not understand my concern, but within English speaking communities, children are very aware of initials and the monosyllabic words they spell out and they can be very cruel with unfortunates having names whose initials spell words. I was nicknamed the sheep \"BA\" Baaaaaa...



Our choice of Jana meant she would contract to JAG - which is OK - having echoes of a reliable, upper middle-class car with a good reputation



I wonder what native Americans would make of our apparently blase attitudes to that most powerful word we possess - our name.





 ▲ Collapse
 
Elis Gabriela Sanchez Juarez
Elis Gabriela Sanchez Juarez
Mexico
Local time: 05:05
Spanish to English
+ ...
I swear it's true Jan 21, 2003

I once met a man who introduced himself as David Ch. López. I told him I needed his first last name to complete our transaction, and he was reluctant. After I insisted for a long time he made me promise I wouldn\'t laugh, and finally confessed he was of Chinese descent and his first last name was Chinga (which is a very crude Spanish word, equivalent to the notorious F word in English).



Needless to say, I broke my promise.

No wonder he didn\'t want to tell me. He ... See more
I once met a man who introduced himself as David Ch. López. I told him I needed his first last name to complete our transaction, and he was reluctant. After I insisted for a long time he made me promise I wouldn\'t laugh, and finally confessed he was of Chinese descent and his first last name was Chinga (which is a very crude Spanish word, equivalent to the notorious F word in English).



Needless to say, I broke my promise.

No wonder he didn\'t want to tell me. He had been laughed at his entire life. ▲ Collapse
 
nimrodtran
nimrodtran
Spain
Member (2014)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Predestination Feb 14, 2003

In the \'80\'s, the name of El Salvador\'s ambassador in Israel, a colonel, was (and I SWEAR)



NAPOLEÓN ARMANDO GUERRA



The name of one of the leaders of the coup d\'Etat against Ceaucescu, was



Gral. MILITARU



(\"Le général Nicolae Militaru est nommé ministre de la Défense. Les principales ambassades roumaines à l\'étranger reconnaissent le nouveau pouvoir\")<... See more
In the \'80\'s, the name of El Salvador\'s ambassador in Israel, a colonel, was (and I SWEAR)



NAPOLEÓN ARMANDO GUERRA



The name of one of the leaders of the coup d\'Etat against Ceaucescu, was



Gral. MILITARU



(\"Le général Nicolae Militaru est nommé ministre de la Défense. Les principales ambassades roumaines à l\'étranger reconnaissent le nouveau pouvoir\")



at



http://perso.club-internet.fr/jpdufren/URSS/roumanie89.htm









[ This Message was edited by:on2003-02-14 03:00] ▲ Collapse
 
Jack Doughty
Jack Doughty  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:05
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam
"...by God, they frighten me!" (Duke of Wellington referring to some of his own men) Feb 14, 2003

At Caterham Guards Depot in 1953 (whose premises were shared by a Joint Services Schools for Linguists where I was learning Russian at the time), the two medical officers were Captain Blood and Lieutenant Butcher, and the dental officer was Captain Savage.
 
Arthur Borges
Arthur Borges
China
Local time: 19:05
English
+ ...
I briefly served under a Capt. Jerry Cannon Feb 17, 2003

Then there was an item in the papers about one woman had to go to court in France to name her daughter Mégane. The birth registrar had turned it down because it was the name of a Renault model; the court ruled that the name did appear on a holy calendar as the law requires and that car models come and go.

In Algeria in the early 1990s, \"Scud\" almost became a very popular boy\'s name but, as in France, birth registrars were turning down because it didn\'t figure in the Coran.
<... See more
Then there was an item in the papers about one woman had to go to court in France to name her daughter Mégane. The birth registrar had turned it down because it was the name of a Renault model; the court ruled that the name did appear on a holy calendar as the law requires and that car models come and go.

In Algeria in the early 1990s, \"Scud\" almost became a very popular boy\'s name but, as in France, birth registrars were turning down because it didn\'t figure in the Coran.

In closing, Japan once posted a certain Mr. Hora as ambassador to Sweden. It was only weeks before he was recalled because the name reads and spells perfectly to mean \"whore\".

And in grade school \"Arthur\" became \"Artichoke\" to taunt me with, but I love that veggie, it showed and backfired on me when they resorted to more direct insults. Maybe that\'s why inspired me to become a translator? ▲ Collapse
 
LJC (X)
LJC (X)
France
Local time: 13:05
French to English
+ ...
That reminds me... Feb 17, 2003

My mother trained to be a nurse alongside Nurse Blood - Mother was Nurse Gore.
 


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and sometimes he is Superman






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