# Do any common American names have unfortunate translations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602 "2014-04-21T12:52:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/81 "2014-04-25T01:23:10Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Thank you, remind me to invite you for icecream or something one of these years. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/82 "2014-04-25T01:28:17Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > To these English ears, too. They might well sound different to Hindi speakers, but they’re hearing sound distinctions that we don’t have in English. We can only differentiate between the sounds our language (and any foreign languages we’re fluent in) differentiate between. Hence the famous Japanese r/l problem - they have one sound that’s in between those two, so for most Japanese speakers, particularly those who were only exposed to English after childhood, they literally don’t hear them as different. The thing is, the first part _is_ a distinct sound in English. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s how ‘The’ starts off. It’s just never used in a similar way, followed by an ‘i’ sound, so I suppose that makes it tougher to distinguish. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/83 "2014-04-25T01:39:52Z")
> [@JpnDude](#): > > In Japanese, the name **Gary** sounds like 下痢 (ゲリ) meaning “ **diarrhea** ”. So when the name is put into phonetic katakana, ゲーリ or げイリ(gey-ree) is usually used. A friend of mine who teaches elementary school English tried to avoid that by transliterating his name as ガリ　(ga-ri). Unfortunately he’s a somewhat large man and “garigari” means “scrawny” in Japanese. The kids apparently get a great deal of pleasure out of that. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/84 "2014-04-25T05:05:59Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > I’m not contesting that it probably sounds very similar to you. Like I said, I had a hell of a time identifying the difference between village and willage. A friend had to finally slow things down and show me how exactly the mouth had to move to make the different sounds. Once I understood that, I was able to hear the difference. Somewhat 🙂 > > I’m just pointing out that it’s different. Especially so because Hindi has the exact sounds that would allow a native speaker to say and write Dick-shit. It would be written like this > > डिकशिट > > Whereas “Thixit” the name is written as below. Note that both the initial and final consonants are completely different. > > दिक्शित No. ट and ड do not actually match any of the sounds in English. In India, they teach English as though they do, but they’re only approximations. If you replace English /t/ and /d/ with ट and ड, it will sound as a very distinctly Indian accent. Also, त and द, as well as थ, do not match any sounds in English either. The real English /t/ and /d/, and /θ/ and /ð/, are sounds that do not occur in Hindi at all. To summarize: ट, ड, त, थ, द are sounds that do not exist in English. The English pronunciations of /t/, /d/, /θ/, /ð/ are sounds that do not exist in Hindi. No matter what anyone from either side does, they can only be approximations of each other. ट and ड are unaspirated retroflex stops. (Aspirated refers to the coarticulated puff of breath like an [h] sound). त and द are unaspirated dental stops. थ and ध are aspirated dental stops. English [t] and [d] are alveolar stops. The point of articulation is _in between_ ट and त. English [θ] and [ð] (“th”) are interdental fricatives. Hindi has no alveolar or interdental sounds. English has no retroflex or dental sounds. While English [t] is aspirated word-initially (sounding in between थ and ठ), it is not aspirated following another letter, and [d] is never aspirated. In English, aspiration is not phonemic the way it is in Hindi, and English speakers do not hear the difference between [t] and [tʰ]. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/85 "2014-04-25T07:18:58Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > English [t] and [d] are alveolar stops. The point of articulation is _in between_ ट and त. > English [θ] and [ð] (“th”) are interdental fricatives. > > Hindi has no alveolar or interdental sounds. English has no retroflex or dental sounds. While English [t] is aspirated word-initially (sounding in between थ and ठ), it is not aspirated following another letter, and [d] is never aspirated. In English, aspiration is not phonemic the way it is in Hindi, and English speakers do not hear the difference between [t] and [tʰ]. In many varieties of Hiberno-English all 4 of [t], [d], [θ] and [ð] are dental stops. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2014, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/86 "2014-04-25T08:35:03Z")
In Israeli Hebrew slang, the word “alek” means something similar to a sarcastic “as if” or “yeah, right”. That means that a name like “Alec Baldwin” can be read as “_As if he’s a Baldwin or something_.” ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/87 "2014-04-25T12:09:46Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > Are British people amused by the name “Lou”? Nope. I have a neice called Eloise that her mother constantly refers to as Lou. I don’t think John Thomas would really make that many people snigger either, TBH. I’ve never heard anyone refer to a penis as a John Thomas in real life, it’s just something I’ve read about. > [@bldysabba](#): > > The thing is, the first part _is_ a distinct sound in English. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s how ‘The’ starts off. It’s just never used in a similar way, followed by an ‘i’ sound, so I suppose that makes it tougher to distinguish. The voiced “th” is actually followed by an “i” sound in “this.” But the sound you’re talking about isn’t a voiced “th.” It’s a different sound, as comprehensively explained by Johanna. The voiced “th” is produced between the teeth, not on the teeth like the sound at the beginning of Dikshit. It doesn’t matter how much you tell us it’s a different sound, we won’t hear it that way. Same goes for speakers of other languages when presented with sounds in English that don’t exist in their own language. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/88 "2014-04-25T13:49:41Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > No. > > ट and ड do not actually match any of the sounds in English. In India, they teach English as though they do, but they’re only approximations. If you replace English /t/ and /d/ with ट and ड, it will sound as a very distinctly Indian accent. > > Also, त and द, as well as थ, do not match any sounds in English either. The real English /t/ and /d/, and /θ/ and /ð/, are sounds that do not occur in Hindi at all. > > To summarize: ट, ड, त, थ, द are sounds that do not exist in English. > The English pronunciations of /t/, /d/, /θ/, /ð/ are sounds that do not exist in Hindi. No matter what anyone from either side does, they can only be approximations of each other. > > ट and ड are unaspirated retroflex stops. (Aspirated refers to the coarticulated puff of breath like an [h] sound). > त and द are unaspirated dental stops. > थ and ध are aspirated dental stops. > > English [t] and [d] are alveolar stops. The point of articulation is _in between_ ट and त. > English [θ] and [ð] (“th”) are interdental fricatives. > > Hindi has no alveolar or interdental sounds. English has no retroflex or dental sounds. While English [t] is aspirated word-initially (sounding in between थ and ठ), it is not aspirated following another letter, and [d] is never aspirated. In English, aspiration is not phonemic the way it is in Hindi, and English speakers do not hear the difference between [t] and [tʰ]. Exactly. Frontalized and aspirated. Maybe I should have explained more? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/89 "2014-04-25T17:01:11Z")
Walter Cronkite’s last name was an anglicized version of the Dutch name _Krankheyt_, which means sickness. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/90 "2014-04-26T00:44:35Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > No. > > ट and ड do not actually match any of the sounds in English. In India, they teach English as though they do, but they’re only approximations. If you replace English /t/ and /d/ with ट and ड, it will sound as a very distinctly Indian accent. > > Also, त and द, as well as थ, do not match any sounds in English either. The real English /t/ and /d/, and /θ/ and /ð/, are sounds that do not occur in Hindi at all. > > To summarize: ट, ड, त, थ, द are sounds that do not exist in English. > The English pronunciations of /t/, /d/, /θ/, /ð/ are sounds that do not exist in Hindi. No matter what anyone from either side does, they can only be approximations of each other. > > ट and ड are unaspirated retroflex stops. (Aspirated refers to the coarticulated puff of breath like an [h] sound). > त and द are unaspirated dental stops. > थ and ध are aspirated dental stops. > > English [t] and [d] are alveolar stops. The point of articulation is _in between_ ट and त. > English [θ] and [ð] (“th”) are interdental fricatives. > > Hindi has no alveolar or interdental sounds. English has no retroflex or dental sounds. While English [t] is aspirated word-initially (sounding in between थ and ठ), it is not aspirated following another letter, and [d] is never aspirated. In English, aspiration is not phonemic the way it is in Hindi, and English speakers do not hear the difference between [t] and [tʰ]. What are you saying ‘No’ to? I said द matches ‘the’, so the initial sound in the Hindi Dikshit matches the initial sound of the word ‘the’. Am I wrong? ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/91 "2014-04-26T00:50:41Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > No. > > ट and ड do not actually match any of the sounds in English. In India, they teach English as though they do, but they’re only approximations. If you replace English /t/ and /d/ with ट and ड, it will sound as a very distinctly Indian accent. > > Also, त and द, as well as थ, do not match any sounds in English either. The real English /t/ and /d/, and /θ/ and /ð/, are sounds that do not occur in Hindi at all. > > To summarize: ट, ड, त, थ, द are sounds that do not exist in English. > The English pronunciations of /t/, /d/, /θ/, /ð/ are sounds that do not exist in Hindi. No matter what anyone from either side does, they can only be approximations of each other. Also, to clarify what you’re saying, is not टी the same as the English t? and isn’t डी the same as the English d? त, थ I agree, that’s why I had trouble coming up with a comparable sound for the end of Dikshit. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/92 "2014-04-26T04:12:04Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > …(We seem to think it’s important to be able to pronounce initialisms, and sometimes bend over backwards to manufacture a title with an initialism that can be pronounced.)… A side note to that side note: in my experience–and by it’s structure–the Hebrew language has never met a string of consonants that would or could not have vowels stuck in them to sound out. Technically, I think, that means it rarely has initialisms, only acronyms that act eventually live on as neologisms, such as Fanny Mae. ---
**Author:** ![namandixit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/35a633/32.png) [@namandixit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/namandixit)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/93 "2014-04-26T12:02:19Z")
Interesting Discussion. Seeing that my own name is Naman Dixit, I thought maybe I should drop atleast one reply. To those who can’t hear the difference between 1Ð1 (“D"ick) and 1Ð6 (“D"ixit) or 1Ï9 (Shi"t”) and 1Ð4 (Dixi"t”), here’s a DIY: 1. Speak “Dick” the usual way and try to notice where your toungue’s tip strikes the roof of your mouth when you speak “D”. If I’m not mistaken about accent, it should be around one centimeter behind the base of your upper teeth. 2. Now put the tip of your tongue exactly where your upper teeth meet the mouth’s roof; flatten your tongue against the roof and trying speaking Dick. It might be awkward a first few times and you might accidentaly end up spitting on someone but you should hear a sound that’s kind of like “Th” of “Their” or “Thou”. 3. Now, do the same on “T” of “Tomato”. 4. Now speak “Dixit” as D-ee-k-shi-t. Hope I helped. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/94 "2014-04-26T14:51:32Z")
> [@namandixit](#): > > Interesting Discussion. Seeing that my own name is Naman Dixit, I thought maybe I should drop atleast one reply. To those who can’t hear the difference between 1Ð1 (“D"ick) and 1Ð6 (“D"ixit) or 1Ï9 (Shi"t”) and 1Ð4 (Dixi"t”), here’s a DIY: > > 1. Speak “Dick” the usual way and try to notice where your toungue’s tip strikes the roof of your mouth when you speak “D”. If I’m not mistaken about accent, it should be around one centimeter behind the base of your upper teeth. > 2. Now put the tip of your tongue exactly where your upper teeth meet the mouth’s roof; flatten your tongue against the roof and trying speaking Dick. It might be awkward a first few times and you might accidentaly end up spitting on someone but you should hear a sound that’s kind of like “Th” of “Their” or “Thou”. > 3. Now, do the same on “T” of “Tomato”. > 4. Now speak “Dixit” as D-ee-k-shi-t. > Hope I helped. You write your name in a much more sensible way. 🙂 The sound you describe in 2 is the way English (British, American and Australian) day the letter t. Th is produced between the teeth. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/95 "2014-04-26T15:11:41Z")
> [@namandixit](#): > > Interesting Discussion. Seeing that my own name is Naman Dixit, I thought maybe I should drop atleast one reply. To those who can’t hear the difference between 1Ð1 (“D"ick) and 1Ð6 (“D"ixit) or 1Ï9 (Shi"t”) and 1Ð4 (Dixi"t”), here’s a DIY: > > 1. Speak “Dick” the usual way and try to notice where your toungue’s tip strikes the roof of your mouth when you speak “D”. If I’m not mistaken about accent, it should be around one centimeter behind the base of your upper teeth. > 2. Now put the tip of your tongue exactly where your upper teeth meet the mouth’s roof; flatten your tongue against the roof and trying speaking Dick. It might be awkward a first few times and you might accidentaly end up spitting on someone but you should hear a sound that’s kind of like “Th” of “Their” or “Thou”. > 3. Now, do the same on “T” of “Tomato”. > 4. Now speak “Dixit” as D-ee-k-shi-t. > Hope I helped. Nice! You really do have to concentrate on tongue position for a sound like this. An English speaker has never had to make their tongue do that in the context of speech. A sound like this is as “foreign” to English speakers as the so-called African language “exoticisms,” or “clicks.” Ref. _Gods Must Be Crazy_). ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/96 "2014-04-26T23:05:12Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > You write your name in a much more sensible way. 🙂 > > The sound you describe in 2 is the way English (British, American and Australian) day the letter t. Th is produced between the teeth. t/d is alveolar, not dental for most English speakers. The tongue is not at the teeth but slightly behind them. Put your tongue in place as if you are about to say a ‘t’. You will still have room to move it forward a little bit to where it actually touches the back of your teeth (where they meet the roof of your mouth). It’s a small difference, but it changes the sound. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/97 "2014-04-26T23:57:20Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > What are you saying ‘No’ to? I said द matches ‘the’, so the initial sound in the Hindi Dikshit matches the initial sound of the word ‘the’. Am I wrong? That’s what I was saying no to. That’s what I was writing to explain why. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/98 "2014-04-27T00:05:55Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > Also, to clarify what you’re saying, is not टी the same as the English t? and isn’t डी the same as the English d? > [@](#): > > त, थ I agree, that’s why I had trouble coming up with a comparable sound for the end of Dikshit. Here’s the answer to all such questions—what Sanskrit scholars do: [International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAST) ट ṭ, ठ ṭh, ड ḍ, ढ ḍh, and ण ṇ are all transliterated with a dot underneath. Retroflex series. त t, th, d, dh, and n are transliterated plain with no marks. Dental series. You see the pattern? So we’d transliterate दीक्षित as Dīkśit for Hindi, and दीक्षित Dīkśita for Sanskrit. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/99 "2014-04-27T09:47:23Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > I was suggesting to \*\*Nava \*\*that she identify the IPA. Not to you. Sorry, sir. No, what I was trying to say is that I drafted a lengthy reply to **Nava** to tell her to use IPA, and then I looked at the IPA page to get the symbols and discovered that she had used IPA. Thus I gave myself a headsmack. Apparently that didn’t come across. You might have picked up on the headsmack as a clue to look at the symbols yourself before replying. 😉 ## As for John Thomas, having had it explained I can see a mild humor in how that might be funny, but it isn’t as inherently funny to me as a guy named _Dick Butkus_\* or _Chin Wang_\*\*. - Famed US footballer and sports announcer. \*\*It’s pronounced “Wong”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602/100 "2014-04-27T16:54:10Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > Personal anecdote, a bit off-topic, but within the spirit of the thread. > > With the best of intentions, we gave our adopted daughter an actual first name honoring what her birth-mother had called her during gestation, along with two middle names which we actually used. > > Unfortunately, passports and driver’s licenses require the actual first name, which we didn’t realize at the time. :o > > Wouldn’t have been quite so bad, except for those Tolkien books that got made into such popular movies. 😃 > > Yes, my daughter is, in fact, my Precious. :smack: She wants it changed to a middle name before she gets her permanent license. One of various reasons why I cannot get into Alexander McCall Smith’s thrillers with the Botswanan detective heroine. For me, the word concerned has been monopolised / ruined for all time by its LOTR association. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-common-american-names-have-unfortunate-translations/686602.md?page=6)