# Anyone know Mandarin or Japanese? Pet Hedgehog name suggestions? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 6, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103 "2002-04-06T00:45:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rhiannon1031](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Rhiannon1031](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon1031)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/1 "2002-04-06T00:45:52Z")
I’m trying to find the Mandarin and Japanese word for “Hedgehog”…I tried some online dictionaries…no help…I’ve got a new pet albino (male) hedgehog and I’m at a loss as to what to name him…I’m open to suggestions! But I thought I might find out what the mandarin and japanese words for “hedgehog” are and if one of them sounds cool enough it might become his name…I really don’t want to gve him a generic name like “spike” or “sonic”…anyone know those words or have any suggestions? Thanks! ~Angel E. Dixon ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/2 "2002-04-06T00:57:16Z")
Dunno about “hedgehog,” but how about “wu sow”? “Moustache” or “beard,” depending on your translation. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/3 "2002-04-06T01:02:38Z")
ciwei in mandarin. both pronounced in the 4th tone ---
**Author:** ![saepiroth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@saepiroth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saepiroth)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/4 "2002-04-06T01:06:13Z")
(not japanese, but a suggestion nontheless) call it “nordom”, or “kibur”. (those aren’t random names; they mean something. well, not the first so much, but the second.) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/5 "2002-04-06T05:24:02Z")
I don’t really know Japanese, but a dictionary I have says hedgehog in Japanese is **harinezumi**. Cafe Society is for discussion of art and literature and such. I’ll move your thread to IMHO, since you’re looking for suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/6 "2002-04-06T06:18:26Z")
Korean: go sum do chi (all one word, but split up so you can see the syllables) ---
**Author:** ![Tsubaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Tsubaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tsubaki)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/7 "2002-04-06T07:21:16Z")
The Japanese, **harinezumi** , means “needle mouse”. That’s the word for a hedgehog. The word for echidna is **harimogura** , “needle mole”. Hari meaning “needle”, you could just call him Harry. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/8 "2002-04-06T18:57:48Z")
Toot’sle is Rabbit in Cantonese. That’s kind of cute. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/9 "2002-04-07T05:27:33Z")
How about “Jen”? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/10 "2002-04-07T05:29:09Z")
Forgot to mention, “Jen” is ‘sharp’ or ‘sword’ in mandarin. ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/11 "2002-04-07T07:03:27Z")
Hau Tong. Literally means “very painful”, but I prefer to define it as “Ouch!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/12 "2002-04-07T10:28:14Z")
My ex-girlfriend was Chinese, and she taught my dog a lot of Mandarin. How about calling the hedgehog “Si-ao MUN-toh”? Wait, I’m not doing that right… “Shi-ow MUN-toh.” Slur it a little bit, put a tiny emphasis on the second syllable of shi-ow, and it might come out right. It means “little bun,” and I call my dog that all the time. Hard to put it in English. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon1031](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Rhiannon1031](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon1031)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/13 "2002-04-09T05:48:26Z")
Exactly how do you pronounce HARINEZUMI? I think it’s cute and I don’t wan’t to go around mis-pronouncing it 😛 Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/14 "2002-04-09T12:53:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jackelope \* > \*\*My ex-girlfriend was Chinese, and she taught my dog a lot of Mandarin. How about calling the hedgehog “Si-ao MUN-toh”? Wait, I’m not doing that right… > > “Shi-ow MUN-toh.” Slur it a little bit, put a tiny emphasis on the second syllable of shi-ow, and it might come out right. It means “little bun,” and I call my dog that all the time. Hard to put it in English. \*\* In standard pin yin, what you are trying to say is “xiao mantou” literally “little steamed bun”. ---
**Author:** ![DocHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DocHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocHopper)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/15 "2002-04-09T15:56:55Z")
Have you considered “Domo-Kun”? If you haven’t already already heard of him, he’s a strange Japanese animal character with a large internet cult following. ---
**Author:** ![Tsubaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Tsubaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tsubaki)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/16 "2002-04-09T23:42:52Z")
Ha - as in laughing (hahaha!) Ri - as in “risen” Ne - as in “nekkid” (sorry, but I couldn’t think of any other example!) Zu - as in Zoo Mi - as in Me Its a bit long-winded, but as I said, you can always call him/her “Harry” for short. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon1031](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Rhiannon1031](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon1031)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/17 "2002-04-10T04:59:47Z")
That’s what I thought…but I wanted to be sure:) Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/18 "2002-04-10T09:41:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JillGat \* > \*\*Toot’sle…Cantonese. \*\* ^^^^^ What is THAT?! ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/19 "2002-04-10T09:43:27Z")
Uh… No offense intended, but really, is that a real system or what? ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon1031](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Rhiannon1031](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon1031)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-mandarin-or-japanese-pet-hedgehog-name-suggestions/102103/20 "2002-04-10T13:35:49Z")
Is WHAT a real system?