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Help[Opinions] think about it ...
in reply to a message by kingdom_of_daydreams
Say Porntip out loud. You aren't Thai, presumably, and your native language is English. You know what porn is. And in English, that's ALL porn is.
Say Ratree out loud. Rat Tree.
My guess is that there are few Thai speakers who come to this English-language site, and like it or not, in English, those word/name elements do not mean what they mean in Thai.
Sure, they may well be considered beautiful in Thailand, but putting aside your desire to be open-minded toward culture and language not your own, would you really want to be called Porntip or Ratree right now, within your own culture?
Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you criticize him, you're a mile away and you have his shoes!
Steve Martin
Say Ratree out loud. Rat Tree.
My guess is that there are few Thai speakers who come to this English-language site, and like it or not, in English, those word/name elements do not mean what they mean in Thai.
Sure, they may well be considered beautiful in Thailand, but putting aside your desire to be open-minded toward culture and language not your own, would you really want to be called Porntip or Ratree right now, within your own culture?
Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you criticize him, you're a mile away and you have his shoes!
Steve Martin
Replies
Why not? It didn't even occur to me that any of these names were "funny" until someone pointed it out. I wouldn't blame my parents for giving me one of these names -- it wouldn't be their problem.
Now I think you're being deliberately naive. If your parents named you Porntip, it absolutely would be your problem, because unless you are Thai and live in Thailand or among exclusively Thai-speaking people and never encounter the English language, everyone you met aside from the youngest or most sheltered child would hear Porntip and immediately hear the English word and know what it means. And while most adults would be too polite to let on to your face that they knew, kids your own age would have no such filters and they would never let up. You could explain and justify till you were blue in the head, but it would not stop them. And you could insist and insist that it wouldn't bother you because You Know The Real Meaning, but you'd be kidding yourself.
And even the adults who don't laugh at you or tease you would pity you and wonder at the judgment of your parents.
And even the adults who don't laugh at you or tease you would pity you and wonder at the judgment of your parents.
That's not the point. Of course I know what "porn" means. But when it becomes an element in a name, it just disappears. I don't see it until someone mentions it, simple as that. And even if it somehow worked differently, and I would see it and think, "Wow, that sure would be unfortunate if they lived around here..." I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. If I'm getting on your nerves, I'll just forget about it.
Not suggesting you forget about it, but that you think realistically about it.
Let's use another example; what if someone named their daughter Scarlatina?
Could you honestly tell yourself that it's like "little Scarlett" and not see/recognize that scarlatina is a disease, what used to be called scarlet fever?
I really don't think you or anyone else could just naturally overlook that; it would take some self-deception.
Let's use another example; what if someone named their daughter Scarlatina?
Could you honestly tell yourself that it's like "little Scarlett" and not see/recognize that scarlatina is a disease, what used to be called scarlet fever?
I really don't think you or anyone else could just naturally overlook that; it would take some self-deception.
I've never heard of scarlatina as a disease.
Well, it's stil out there. I remember having it and thinking at the time (I was probably seven or eight) what a pretty word it was.
Malaria is a pretty disease name too.
So is influenza and it has to do with the moon.
So's diarrhea, so's rubella ... I draw the line at pellagra.
This reminds me of a book by Cormac McCarthy called "Child of God." There's a family who run the town dump and there's like twelve daughters, all named from a medical book their father found in the trash. So there's Urethra, Sara Bella, and Hernia Sue, among others.
So's diarrhea, so's rubella ... I draw the line at pellagra.
This reminds me of a book by Cormac McCarthy called "Child of God." There's a family who run the town dump and there's like twelve daughters, all named from a medical book their father found in the trash. So there's Urethra, Sara Bella, and Hernia Sue, among others.
I thought Rubella was a pretty disease name as well.