Although, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't immigrants in the early 20th century have to change their names? Requiring a more 'Americanized' version of their name?
Posted by WizArtist II (Member # 1425) on :
quote:Originally posted by Hobbes: Although, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't immigrants in the early 20th century have to change their names? Requiring a more 'Americanized' version of their name?
I don't believe it was an actual requirement but was done by some of the immigrants to simplify things for themselves. HERE is an article about that subject.
Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
Christ, that woman in an idiot. But to make things easier for her walnut-sized brain, I'm going to change my name to Johnny America.
By the way, my great grandfather was a (corrupt) immigration official in San Francisco. He encouraged Chinese immigrants (in Chinese, right in front of non-Chinese speaking immigration officials) to claim they had more relatives so that more Chinese could more easily enter the US.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
How do you say "receeding hairline" in Chinese?
Maybe Texans should take mandatory speach therapy in school so they dont have that assinine accent and can more readily communicate with the rest of the country...
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I was always told my grandmother, whose birth name was Ludmilla Papež, had her name changed to Mildred Papesh by immigration without really being consulted, but of course I have no idea how much truth there is to that.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Probably had something to do with the immigration official not being able to spell names with diacritics. As for that woman with the IQ of a glass of water, I can't say I'm surprised by the comment. I don't know what local government is like in the US, but over here it attracts all sorts brain damaged loonies. I remember one in particular thought it'd be an excellent idea to divert the A303 through my front garden (and demolishing several of our neighbours houses) so the tourists would have a nicer view when visiting Stonehenge. Sanity eventually prevailed and I think it will in this case too. Indeed, if you look at her follow up statement you can see she doesn't seam able to even comprehend that she's said anything wrong.
quote:Christ, that woman in an idiot. But to make things easier for her walnut-sized brain, I'm going to change my name to Johnny America.
Only if I'm allowed to change my name to "Pip-Pip Jolly Ho Cricket and Crumpets". For the record though, my surname is Swedish (or Norwegian, I forget) in origin, my family have been in this country since Hastings (we think) and people still mispronounce and misspell the name. That's life, I care not a jot. On the up side, at least we have a very small area of Western Australia named after us. Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
What I don't understand is : Chinese names are fairly easy, aren't they? Don't they tend to be little one-syllable affairs? If she had had a problem with, say, Japanese names, or Vietnamese names, or Thai names (oh, man), then I'd understand.
Oh, wait. To her, those probably all are "Chinese", aren't they?
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Reverend:
quote:For the record though, my surname is Swedish (or Norwegian, I forget) in origin, my family have been in this country since Hastings (we think) and people still mispronounce and misspell the name.
"Reverend" seems anglosaxon enough, no? I'm sure it's even latin from the start, as well. *preens fur*
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Nim, sometimes I worry about you. But then I remember that I don't care. At all.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
You know, I don't think I even know your last name to pronounce it correctly... it isn't Trigwell, is it?
Posted by WizArtist II (Member # 1425) on :
Reverend is changing his name to "River Tam".
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
quote:Nim, sometimes I worry about you. But then I remember that I don't care. At all.
Huh, that was a bit dickish. For an englishman you have a poor grasp of irony. Or maybe you misunderstood, I joked about "Reverend" being all I had to go on because you went to great lengths to discuss the heritage of your name but didn't actually mention it.. Maybe you're a descendant of some of our more ambitious ancestors here. But fine then, who cares. At all.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
quote:Originally posted by Nim:
quote:Nim, sometimes I worry about you. But then I remember that I don't care. At all.
Huh, that was a bit dickish. For an englishman you have a poor grasp of irony. Or maybe you misunderstood, I joked about "Reverend" being all I had to go on because you went to great lengths to discuss the heritage of your name but didn't actually mention it.. Maybe you're a descendant of some of our more ambitious ancestors here. But fine then, who cares. At all.
Oh don't worry, I got the irony. You seamed to have missed it though mate, so calm down.
quote:Originally posted by Fabrux: You know, I don't think I even know your last name to pronounce it correctly... it isn't Trigwell, is it?
Arh, that it be.
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
People have enough trouble with my dad's name. He was born in Calcutta (as was), I admit, but still, how many times can you get "Neville" wrong?
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
My boss, who I've worked for for 3 years, introduced me to someone the other day as "Alan For-ay" (pronoucing the e at the end of Fore instead of leaving it silent). I just stared at him for a second until he realized how dumb that sounded. Then asked, "How long have I worked for you Chirs?"
People are always doing that though. Doesn't anyone play golf!?
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
I think it's one of those things where we don't often address a person by their surname anymore. Everyone it seams is on a first name basis. Truth be told, I've worked with some people for years without ever knowing their surname at all, never mind how you pronounce it.
Posted by Josh (Member # 1884) on :
I was going to write a long rebuttal about her statement, but people like that aren't worth the effort. I believe the statement "What a bitch." sums it all up.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
Stupid people like this always make me question if she even realizes nearly everyone in America is an immigrant. At least someone in their family had to move here from another country. I still have relatives in Germany, France and Russia to name a few.
My dad's side of the family is German, starting with Franz Joseph von Herbrock from I think it's called Zweibrücken, Germany before coming to the US in the 1800s.
As for my mom's side, mostly Russian sounding names like my great grandmother Tatyana Savitsky-Durnovo. My great-great-great grandfather or uncle, forget which was the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.
Posted by tricky (Member # 1402) on :
Hell, unless you're from East Africa, everyone's an immigrant. I'm traditionally English: 1/4 Scottish, 1/4 Irish, Bit of french and bugger know's where the rest comes from. Last name (Knott, which always get's mistaked for Knight, which was nearly cool in the 80's) is Galic for hill....
Posted by tricky (Member # 1402) on :
Hang on, didn't they do this a few years ago with "encouraging" all them folks picking cotton in thier fields with the funny african names...
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
quote:Originally posted by tricky: Hell, unless you're from East Africa, everyone's an immigrant.
True. I was actually able to trace my family tree that far too. Earliest known family member was Ibrahim Hannibal from Eritrea. Brought to Russia by Peter the Great, and became a major-general in the Russian military.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I'm changing my name to "Steve Rogers". Or I'll keep my lousy surname, buy a cheap tin crown and declare myself "King of all Caldwell"- my first official act: evict GWB from his ranch to live under an overpass.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
I'd hate to see this woman try to get by at my university. Profs have names like Valsangkar, Yevdokimov, Haralampides, Bhattacharyya, Danielescu...
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
That woman would absolutely love it around here. Besides the Polish and German names, you have plenty of Native American surnames, not to mention some of our roads. You can tell if someone's not from around here by how they pronounce the Scajaquada expressway...
Posted by Josh (Member # 1884) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: I'm changing my name to "Steve Rogers".
Only if I can be Bucky and ride a Nazi rocket into space.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Josh:
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: I'm changing my name to "Steve Rogers".
Only if I can be Bucky and ride a Nazi rocket into space.
Actually, by current continuity, you'd get your arm blown off, fall into freezing water and get picked by the Russians- then brainwashed into being their top wetworks operative (kept in suspended animation when not on assignment). Lots of stuff happens, lots of people die.
Eventually you become Captain America. So everyone's happy (everyone that's not dead anyway).
back to the topic at hand, it would be intresting to trace this old bat's family tree, contact some living relatives of her's overseas and get their opinion.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
...only to find out their last name is "Zwekjakl;sdfg874" before immigration changed it, prompting her to go "SEEEEEEEE!?" Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Most people don't even *try* to say my last name - Olejnik. Apparently my ancestors were intelligent enough to keep the original spelling, because I've seen all sorts of alternate spellings like Olenik, Oleynik, O'lennick, etc. However, my family doesn't exactly pronounce it the original way - we keep the J silent, while I *think* the original Slovak pronunciation is more like o-LAY-nick.
quote:Originally posted by Fabrux: I'd hate to see this woman try to get by at my university. Profs have names like Valsangkar, Yevdokimov, Haralampides, Bhattacharyya, Danielescu...
Yeah, I had a lot of Indian and Chinese professors too.
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
Anglo Saxon names can be wacky too. I had an English teacher called Chermsidesurgeson. Our first English lesson with him was learning how to spell his name.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by B.J.:
quote:Originally posted by Fabrux: I'd hate to see this woman try to get by at my university. Profs have names like Valsangkar, Yevdokimov, Haralampides, Bhattacharyya, Danielescu...
Yeah, I had a lot of Indian and Chinese professors too.
There you go again, bragging about how you slept your way to a diploma.
Posted by HopefulNebula (Member # 1933) on :
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