Chinese
with English Names
Many young Chinese
working for multinational companies in China
like to give themselves English given names.
But in a generally Chinese-speaking
environment, sometimes the English names can
be the cause of confusion. Blow are some
instances posted in Chinese cyberspace.
This Is
New York
A Chinese worker at a
joint-venture cooperation named himself York.
After York left the firm, another Chinese guy
hired to fill his spot happened also to have
named himself York. When the Chinese manager
introduced the new staff to his foreign
counterparts, he simply stated, “This is
new York.”
Hie
Mum!
A Chinese woman
called herself Emma. Emma is a beautiful
name, but the problem is that its
pronunciation is so similar to Chinese phrase
“哎，妈！" (Hie mum).
Each time when her colleague rang his or her
mother and greeted her with “Hie mum!”,
she would thought somebody was addressing her
and frequently answered the call.
Where
Is Chicken
Gina isn’t a bad
name either, but it has the same
pronunciation issue with Chinese language,
only this time it is not identified with dear
mother, but delicious bird: it sounds like
saying “鸡呢” (where is the
chicken?). And that is how some English
fanatics in her workplace would shout around
when trying to locate her.
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