# What does Longwang mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 26, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554 "2005-09-26T20:52:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tower\_Dweller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tower\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tower_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/1 "2005-09-26T20:52:12Z")
This is making the rounds of all my friends - Tropical Storm Longwang, heading towards Korea and Japan. One sec. \Longwang. snicker. He said “long wang”. Heh heh.\ Ok, it’s out of my system. But seriously, is this an actual name somewhere, and this is just a coincidence? I know in the US we have a list of names we pull from for tropical storms/hurricanes - is there something similar in that region? ---
**Author:** ![charizard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charizard/32/4166_2.png) [@charizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charizard)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/2 "2005-09-26T20:59:33Z")
Well, it certainly shows up on this of cyclone names from the Hong Kong observatory. [http://www.weather.gov.hk/informtc/sound/tcname2000e.htm](http://www.weather.gov.hk/informtc/sound/tcname2000e.htm) It was submitted by China, so might mean something like “Dragon King” (but they don’t supply the actual characters to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![charizard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charizard/32/4166_2.png) [@charizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charizard)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/3 "2005-09-26T21:03:28Z")
> [@charizard](#): > > It was submitted by China, so might mean something like “Dragon King” (but they don’t supply the actual characters to be sure.) Oh, wait. They actually did have a Chinese-language link to the page so you could see the characters. It is, indeed, “Dragon King”. ---
**Author:** ![Tower\_Dweller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tower\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tower_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/4 "2005-09-27T14:04:13Z")
You have to love the Dope! Thanks a lot, charizard. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/5 "2005-09-27T14:08:01Z")
…and when you think about it, a Dragon King would be expected to have a longwang. Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. And somebody else woulda said it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/6 "2005-09-27T14:11:42Z")
Maybe [Longwang means ‘Rita’](http://www.snopes.com/photos/risque/rita.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/7 "2005-09-27T14:11:43Z")
You are soooooooo right. 🙂 …longwang. BAND NAME!!! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/8 "2005-09-27T14:13:07Z")
Cool! We affected the Google-banner! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/9 "2005-09-27T14:21:56Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > …longwang. BAND NAME!!! Everybody Long Wang tonight! ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/10 "2005-09-27T16:58:11Z")
I dare any western meteorologist to keep a straight face while reporting on Hurricane Long Wang: _Long Wang is gaining strength… Nothing the size of Long Wang has been seen this season… Long Wang has left the area drenched with moisture… The effects of Long Wang are going to be felt for some time…_ 😛 ---
**Author:** ![charizard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charizard/32/4166_2.png) [@charizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charizard)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/11 "2005-09-28T13:13:08Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > I dare any western meteorologist to keep a straight face while reporting on Hurricane Long Wang: I should point out that the word doesn’t actually _sound_ like “long wang”. The ‘o’ actually uses the “oo” sound as in “cool.” The ‘a’ is the “ah” sound. And even the ‘w’ has a hint of ‘v’ in it, sort of like a hybrid of the English ‘w’ and the German ‘w’. This is, though, just the sort of thing that happens when going between languages. Take, for instance, Microsoft’s entry into the Chinese market. They chose the literal characters for “micro” and “soft”, but apparently to native Mandarin speakers the anatomical connotations are, well, overwhelming. Again, one has to imagine the newscasters getting copy like: ``` *<micro><soft> is down in after-hours activity.* ``` ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/12 "2005-09-28T15:57:07Z")
Does anyone else think it’s funny that, of all the dopers, \*Charizard \* was the one who said it mean Dragon King? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/13 "2005-09-28T20:33:16Z")
**Bangcock Less Likely As Longwang Goes In Continent** ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-longwang-mean/323554/14 "2005-09-28T20:41:27Z")
And here is a [picture](http://www.snopes.com/photos/risque/rita.asp#photo) of it.