New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesRe: Sri Lanka
in reply to a message by Anneza
I felt exactly the same a few years ago when I worked with an Indian fellow called Brian (sic)!
Here's the scoop: Parts of southern India were colonized by the Portugese. The city of Goa -- whose official language was Portugese until 1961! -- has a huge Catholic population, and many of the ethnically Indian population sport western names. Moreover, about 7% of the population of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) are Christian, many of who carry western names. So dont be surprised the next time you meet a Fernando Pinto from India :)
Here's the scoop: Parts of southern India were colonized by the Portugese. The city of Goa -- whose official language was Portugese until 1961! -- has a huge Catholic population, and many of the ethnically Indian population sport western names. Moreover, about 7% of the population of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) are Christian, many of who carry western names. So dont be surprised the next time you meet a Fernando Pinto from India :)
1
Replies
Know what you mean - my sister-in-law is living with an Indian guy called Michael!
Sri Lanka, or Ceylon, was also the site of prisoner-of-war camps during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), where the British transported Boer soldiers they'd captured. The effect on those grim Calvinists must have been astounding ...
My point remains: none of my Portuguese friends have got anything like these strings of names, and nor have any English people I know except maybe royalty. Nowhere else that I know of do people give their children four or five names apparently quite routinely. My kids have got three each, and that's pushing it!
And it can't really be a Buddhist custom either, she muses, because the Chinese have very stripped-down naming habits.
Another wonderful problem is one of the Pakistan cricket team, great batsman. He's got three names, all hyphenated, and that's it:
Inzamam-ul-Haq. Go figure ...
Sri Lanka, or Ceylon, was also the site of prisoner-of-war camps during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), where the British transported Boer soldiers they'd captured. The effect on those grim Calvinists must have been astounding ...
My point remains: none of my Portuguese friends have got anything like these strings of names, and nor have any English people I know except maybe royalty. Nowhere else that I know of do people give their children four or five names apparently quite routinely. My kids have got three each, and that's pushing it!
And it can't really be a Buddhist custom either, she muses, because the Chinese have very stripped-down naming habits.
Another wonderful problem is one of the Pakistan cricket team, great batsman. He's got three names, all hyphenated, and that's it:
Inzamam-ul-Haq. Go figure ...
1
PS: Good luck and virtual toe-smacks
1