# Dear Chewbacca **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720 "2010-06-10T23:49:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/41 "2010-06-11T18:52:23Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > So who is the “wannabe-rasta-idiot”? Nien Nunb? Could be, though I think it sounds more like Jar-Jar Binks. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/42 "2010-06-11T19:31:56Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Given that Yoda calls Chewbacca, or a Wookie who looks like Chewbacca, Chewbacca, long before the events of _Star Wars_, it seems unlikely that Han coined the name. Also, Ben introduces Chewbacca (as “Chewbacca”) to Luke after speaking to him in Mos Eisley. And shit. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/43 "2010-06-11T23:08:16Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > Actually, I have also wondered how Chewbacca got his name and I think, years ago, that I posted that on a thread somewhere here on the SDMB. My problem is this: most, if not all, human names are words that are pronounceable by humans. However, never has the creature Chewbacca come close to any vocalization close to “Chewbacca.” So, how do they get their names? Wouldn’t their names be something like “rowrfmrworm” or something they could say. It’s kind of like how I think dogs would name each other a smell rather than a vocalization if they named each other. I always figured Solo named him because couldn’t pronounce it. And shit. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/44 "2010-06-11T23:13:46Z")
> [@Super\_Kapowzler](#): > > I got so fucking sick at the one with the wannabe-rasta-idiot,I started talking back to the movie and got kicked out. Gee, no one could have seen that coming. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/45 "2010-06-11T23:58:57Z")
“He said his name was 'ROWWWrryarbromyarstomp.” Which means they could have called him Rory. That would have been cool. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/46 "2010-06-12T02:34:19Z")
Forget his name, I wanna know why he lives on Endor with the Ewoks. And shit. It doesn’t make a hell of a lotta sense that an 8 foot tall ape is gonna hang with a bunch of Teddy bears. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/47 "2010-06-12T02:52:43Z")
You’re all 'tarded, and shit. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/48 "2010-06-12T06:16:14Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Forget his name, I wanna know why he lives on Endor with the Ewoks. And shit. It doesn’t make a hell of a lotta sense that an 8 foot tall ape is gonna hang with a bunch of Teddy bears. That’s easy. Shit doesn’t stick to Ewok fur. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/49 "2010-06-12T07:29:04Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > That’s easy. Shit doesn’t stick to Ewok fur. I’ve pondered that, but if that’s true, why does Chewie bother to wipe his ass with them? See, I think shit does stick to Ewoks’ fur. It’s just that they don’t have a problem with it. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/50 "2010-06-12T07:37:18Z")
It’s another Star Wars/Japan culture connection - Chewbacca/中馬鹿/middle idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/51 "2010-06-12T18:11:08Z")
I’d suggest it was his slave name, but the prequel trilogy nixed that idea (IIRC, I really couldn’t be bothered watching it again to find out). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/52 "2010-06-12T20:14:31Z")
Given that Obi-Wan Kenobi knows his name before meeting Han Solo, there has to be some standard Wookiee-to-English system for naming Wookiees. Chewbacca is twice called by his name by people who’ve never met Han. It’s never explained how some people came to understand Wookiee - which you have to think is not the most common language in the galaxy and which you’d think would be nearly impossible for someone who speaks like humans to understand - but it doesn’t matter. A similar trick is used in “District 9,” where many humans understand the “Prawn” language and vice versa, despite the fact that their sounds are so totally different from human speech that I find it hard to believe humans could EVER learn it. But it makes the movie work. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/53 "2010-06-12T21:44:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Given that Obi-Wan Kenobi knows his name before meeting Han Solo, there has to be some standard Wookiee-to-English system for naming Wookiees. Chewbacca is twice called by his name by people who’ve never met Han. Maybe he hands out business cards. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/54 "2010-06-12T21:52:58Z")
I know Yoda could speak Wookie. Perhaps it was taught at the Academy? ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/55 "2010-06-12T22:06:20Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Given that Obi-Wan Kenobi knows his name before meeting Han Solo, there has to be some standard Wookiee-to-English system for naming Wookiees. Except that being that the story takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far away, it’s unlikely any of them spoke English. What we hear in the films is at bast a translation, and possibly just a guess as to what the characters actually said. Clearly proper nouns are translated, adapted, or substituted as well. Otherwise we have to assume to that the protagonist just happens to have a name that sounds like a common name in our world followed by something that sounds like a compound noun Carlos Castaneda might have come up with, and that almost all the Sith Lords just happen to have names that sound sinister to English speakers. With “The Lord of the Rings,” the author gives us explicit details of how many of the names were adapted. “Frodo” is almost a direct transliteration of the sound of the character’s “real” name. On the other hand, “Samwise” is intended to be etymologically parallel to the real name, although it sounds nothing like it (“Banazir,” half wise), and it conveniently has a short form that sounds like a common name to us. On the other other hand, the only relationship between “Meriadoc” and _that_ character’s real name is that their short forms have similar meanings in their respective languages. The point being that, without a guide to the translation of names, we have no way of knowing what the relationship is between Chewbacca or Chewy and what the creature actually called himself. (Note that, like all decent-thinking folks, I am ignoring anything in the Extended Universe that was not shown or explained on screen.) ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/56 "2010-06-13T17:02:40Z")
Everyone in the Star Wars universe has universal translators surgically implanted at birth. ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/57 "2010-06-13T17:09:52Z")
Hmmm… if everyone had a universal translator implanted at birth, how would it translate a name into “Chewbacca?” If I were speaking to another person on another planet and we were both using universal translators, wouldn’t my name be translated into something like “God’s gracious gift” rather than changing “Shawn” to “John” which wouldn’t be any better for their language anyway? Wouldn’t the translator go back to the direct meaning or make it phonetically possible for the alien being to understand? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/58 "2010-06-13T18:01:19Z")
**kenobi 65** said: > [@](#): > > Could be, though I think it sounds more like Jar-Jar Binks. I considered that, but I don’t recall Chewbacca being in _The Phantom Menace_. IIRC the wookiees don’t show up until _The Revenge of the Sith_. **cochrane** said: > [@](#): > > Forget his name, I wanna know why he lives on Endor with the Ewoks. And shit. It doesn’t make a hell of a lotta sense that an 8 foot tall ape is gonna hang with a bunch of Teddy bears. Chewbacca doesn’t live on Endor any more than any of the other rebels. He just is more comfortable in the forest. And who says he’s an ape? Looks more like an 8 foot tall teddy bear to me. Besides, after all that time with humans, he just wants to hang out with _anyone_ who understands that a good scratch and a bite of raw deeralope is heaven. **TWDuke** said: > [@](#): > > Except that being that the story takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far away, it’s unlikely any of them spoke English. I’m sure that **RickJay** was just using “English” as a stand in for whatever language they spoke. > [@](#): > > and that almost all the Sith Lords just happen to have names that sound sinister to English speakers. But the Sith Lords all picked their Darth names because they sound sinister. It’s part of their schtick. Sith Master: “You have done well, my young underling, now that my last disciple has proven himself unworthy by getting shallacked, it is time to promote you to my [del]number one assistant[/del] senior disciple. Pick your future title now.” Sith underling: “Um, how about Darth Kittykiss? Darth Snugglepuppy? Darth Hugalot?” Sith Master: “Clearly I was wrong about you, and you need more time learning the Sith ways. Go stand in the corner and keep your mouth shut or I’ll shut it for you.” **Nature’s Call** said: > [@](#): > > Everyone in the Star Wars universe has universal translators surgically implanted at birth. Then they wouldn’t have any need for protocol droids. And they wouldn’t have had any trouble talking to the Ewoks. You’re in the wrong “Star” universe. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/59 "2010-06-13T18:45:53Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Chewbacca doesn’t live on Endor any more than any of the other rebels. [I think you done been wooshed](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhvAs5GsMPw). ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720/60 "2010-06-14T06:27:05Z")
I didn’t even notice that had been posted by **cochrane** himself. I’m afraid Chewbacca may have been [turned into a rug](http://www.cinematical.com/photos/rare-star-wars-images/2756649/). Who knew Wookiee pelts were so highly prized? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-chewbacca/542720.md?page=4)