Nice knowing you, Porn! Thai students in New Zealand asked to ditch their dirty nicknames

[ratcatcher]

54 minutes ago, bark said:

Yes wrong, but sometimes better for the kids. I know one waitress; her name was Poo.

One day this customer says to her. Your name means Sh-t in English. The poor cried. The other expats, kicked the guy

out of the bar. And we explained in a nicer way to her. We then had a contest for a new nick name. 500 baht per name choice.

There were 18 names, picked by the Expats. She got 9,000 baht and a new name when working in the bar. Penny.

Some people are stupid, and not polite. Anyway the girl was happy, with her 9,000 baht and new Farang name.

There is a Thai Cook Book, " Cooking with Poo "

On the same subject, ex P.M. Yingluck's  cheu len or nickname is Pu, I am not sure she how she is at cooking 

Edited September 26, 2016 by ratcatcher

[nausea]

Up to them, but they should know the connotations when they travel. My favorite Thai faux pas  is "Vaseline Man". 

[TPI]

3 hours ago, Dexlowe said:

 

Hate to disillusion you, but .....

We all know the joke about the three Kiwi's ........how their friend had 2 "freckles"! When asked the two men beside the third said "all the people in the street say, here comes John with the two "little brown sheriff badges"! (is that ok?)

Edited September 26, 2016 by TPI

[oobar]

How  is it that so many people seem not to know that the name or syllable Porn in Thai is not pronounced like the "porn" in pornography?  It is pronounced "Pawn," as in the Chess piece, so if it is some kind of problem for nincompoops, just spell it that way.  The standard transliteration from Thai that becomes "or" is pronounced "aw."  Get a grip, folks.

[oobar]

1 hour ago, DiDiChok said:

What about this then?

 

And  pronounced "Waht Coke," which means . . .  ?

[Navalator]

 Smart NZ Education Centre.   Are constipated morons running this agency?

[grumbleweed]

A bit off topic 

A Thai waitress once asked me my friend's name when he was out of earshot

The look on his face when she said "<deleted>, one more beer?" was priceless

[Denim]

And let us not forget Elton Johns old singing partner.

 

Kee Kee Dee.

 

Wonder what the Thais made of that.

[DavidOxon]

Had a bank manager named Turdsak... I never did find out if he'd had a colostomy!

[Moonmoon]

U shouldnt change a person's name to be accepted. U should change ppl's mindset that there r different languages around the world n a person's name given out of love by their dad n mum should be given the same respect as yours. English isnt the only spoken language in this world. There r thousands more beautiful languages around the world. Learn em.

[oldlakey]

1 hour ago, oobar said:

How  is it that so many people seem not to know that the name or syllable Porn in Thai is not pronounced like the "porn" in pornography?  It is pronounced "Pawn," as in the Chess piece, so if it is some kind of problem for nincompoops, just spell it that way.  The standard transliteration from Thai that becomes "or" is pronounced "aw."  Get a grip, folks.

Do you honestly think that will be allowed to get in the way of years of piss taking

 

[oldlakey]

16 minutes ago, Moonmoon said:

U shouldnt change a person's name to be accepted. U should change ppl's mindset that there r different languages around the world n a person's name given out of love by their dad n mum should be given the same respect as yours. English isnt the only spoken language in this world. There r thousands more beautiful languages around the world. Learn em.

It might have escaped your notice but this is an English language forum 

I would not advocate name changes to suit another persons language but

I would expect a certain leaning towards English type humor 

Which is in evidence in this thread

[Grubster]

They pronounce it "Pawn" which I think is a lovely name.

[canuckamuck]

If they would stop transliterating to suit the modern British accent, we wouldn't be see the the letter R where it is supposed to be an aw sound.

Nothing wrong with the name Pawn or Pon.

[Moonmoon]

53 minutes ago, oldlakey said:

It might have escaped your notice but this is an English language forum 

I would not advocate name changes to suit another persons language but

I would expect a certain leaning towards English type humor 

Which is in evidence in this thread

Having a few laughs is ok. But to change it just because its unacceptable in another language is just ignorant.

[Xircal]

4 hours ago, DiDiChok said:

What about this then?

 

 

That's hilarious!

 

Reminds me of a quaint little village in Austria.

 

 

[evadgib]

I challenge anyone not to laugh :)

 

 

Edited September 26, 2016 by evadgib

[Johpa]

9 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Way back in the 90s my Thai GF's nickname was Porn.

 

Given that the 'r' in Porn is not pronounced then simply changing the spelling to Pon should suffice.

 

8 hours ago, rkidlad said:

I had two students called Nop (pronounced Nob) and Kunt (Pronounced Gant).

 

Nop would never be pronounced as "nob" in Thai as there are no voiced consonant stops in syllable final position.  Nor do I believe there is a syllable final 'nt' consonant cluster in Thai.  Of course there are Thai nicknames that do not sit well in the western world, Puu being the leading candidate for change.

[Xircal]

I remember a few years ago inviting some thai bird out to lunch but within minutes of entering the restaurant another five girls turned up. She'd apparently invited all her friends without telling me.

 

After we all sat down, I started asking each of them their names and when it came to the girl in the middle she said to me "Me Pong". I just couldn't keep a straight face.

[BKKdreaming]

this is to help the students have an easier time in NZ ,   so who would be giving them a bad time ?  ummmm NZ boys and girls at school , and you know how kids can be ,

 

So I think its a good idea ,  the Thai students have enough problems being in another country , why start them off on the wrong foot getting picked on ?

 

If you given name  translated into Thai  as  "dirty dog"  would you use another name ?

[oldlakey]

2 hours ago, Moonmoon said:

Having a few laughs is ok. But to change it just because its unacceptable in another language is just ignorant.

I agree as line two in my post 42 states 

[JHolmesJr]

Kiwis have a long tradition of uneasiness with names.

 

 

[Donutz]

Asking or urging any person to change their name would be madness. It makes perfect sense to inform a person with a foreign name that his/her name might surprise people. Be it because it sounds 'funny' or even could be offensive or insulting in certain contexts to names that simply are too hard for most to pronounce.  So no harm that foreigners to an English based country are told names like poo, pee, porn and such may have unexpected reactions.  Now most adults should be mature enough to handle any odd names just fine after one or two confirmations that the (nick)name is indeed a genuine one. Most classmates would quickly stop having a laugh over these names,  except for the bullies but those idiots would take any oppertunity to pick on somebody they see as weak, stupid or undesirable. 

 

The article metions that even people such as 'peach'  were suggest to change their name. That's nuts. Leave it up to the foreigner what they feel most comfortable with.  

 

Any let's face it, in any language some names may sound funny or offensive but except for barbarians and retards people would be able to handle such odd names just fine.  The Dutch had a prime minister called Wim Kok. And Dick is not uncommon first name. Sure it might sound odd that Mr. Kok or even Mr. Dick Kok is being welcomed but it's not going to be the end of the world.

 

Thai may have an innocent giggle or laugh at certain English, Dutch, German, ... names and words too. Here in the Netherlands Thai may have a chuckle over the words 'ham' or 'hamlap' (note that ham in Dutch is pronounced differently than in English) . To the Dutch that simply means ham or a slice of ham but to the Thai it sounds like 'penis' or 'sleeping penis'. But it would be very wrong to suggest that those foreigners should change their name when residing in Thailand.  

[Kabula]

American names too?  Ben Dover.

 

"Nice meeting you Porn, Ben Dover here." 

[Ulic]

I will not comment.

[Thechook]

14 hours ago, jackspratt498 said:

Ridiculous.

 

I'm guessing that an average New Zealander is probably more intelligent than this right?

 

Would it really cause that much of a stir?

 

Considering that the word porn and the name Porn aren't even pronounced the same way? Would the mere utterance of the word "pee" really cause such a stir among any group of people above the age of say, four years old?

 

I don't know, I've never been to NZ but most of the people I've met from there seem to be a bit more reasonable than this Busy Betty BS.

From what I read it's not the kiwis who have asked them to change but the Thai Agency.  Kiwis are like Aussies and couldn't really give a <deleted>.

[rkidlad]

7 hours ago, Johpa said:

 

Given that the 'r' in Porn is not pronounced then simply changing the spelling to Pon should suffice.

 

 

Nop would never be pronounced as "nob" in Thai as there are no voiced consonant stops in syllable final position.  Nor do I believe there is a syllable final 'nt' consonant cluster in Thai.  Of course there are Thai nicknames that do not sit well in the western world, Puu being the leading candidate for change.

 

It was pronounced Nob. With a b at the end. He was sometimes called Nobby. Maybe it's always pronounced p when used as his full name 'Noppadom' (or how ever it's spelt in English) 

 

How things are suppsoed to be done and a said in Thai language can be very different to what people do in real life. 

[NongKhaiKid]

I once had a student called Rat so I explained I couldn't possibly call her that but she expected it because she was the executive secretary in the F & B dept of a major hotel and worked for a European boss who said the same thing.

It was good that she understood there was no problem for Thais but not the same for foreigners although I was uncomfortable as she was the only one in the class i didn't call by nickname and it seemed I was treating her differently but she wasn't in the least bit fazed.

[canuckamuck]

deleted

Edited September 27, 2016 by canuckamuck

[hdkane]

If the students wish to remain and succeed in the longterm, it seems reasonable to change the name and assimilate. Assimilation is better for the society and the individual.  If they are just attending school for a few years, keep the name and realize that you'll have the same boring conversation each time you are introduced.