A good friend of mine had a brother-in-law named Joe Boop. My son has a BIL named Joe Leake. But the absolute worst name I have ever seen is an Indian mathematician who publishes under the name Dickshit. A few years ago, the Indian ambassador to the US was a woman named Dixit and I really wonder if, in Hindi, these are actually the same name.
A Kiwi radio broadcaster recently got into hot water for making fun of Sheila Dikshit, the chief minister of Delhi since 1998.
Excerpt: “Paul Henry, a TVNZ New Zealand broadcaster, referred to New Delhi’s chief minister Sheila Dikshit as ‘the dip shit woman’ and Dick Shit, going on to state: ‘It’s so appropriate, because she’s Indian, so she’d be dick-in-shit wouldn’t she, do you know what I mean? Walking along the street … she’s just so funny, isn’t she?’ New Zealand Indian Central Association president Paul Singh Bains said the fact that TVNZ was still promoting the clip on its website showed it had ‘totally lost the plot’ and was insensitive to the offence Henry had caused.”
True story. Just last week I had the pleasure of meeting the Dusche’s. Me and staff had a good laugh anyway.
I recall reading a News Features item that the movie studio wouldn’t approve the title of the movie Meet the Fockers because they said it was obscene. Maybe they wanted to change the name of the characters too. But then the ones behind the movie dug up some real-life Fockers to prove such people existed. At least in name.
I served in the army, very briefly, under a Major Fochop. the ch was pronounced like a K, so “Major Fockop”. I’m not making this up.
In my town, there resides a Justin Case, and a Candace (aka Candy) Rapp.
I knew a Richard Beiter (Biter). His parents called him Dick.
Dick Biter.
So, his parents named one son Harry and one son Harold…? They certainly have a thing for the Harry Butts.
See, this is the thing. I grew up with a name that earned me a ton of teasing. You would think that I would be chomping at the bit to change it. But when I did get married, I tried going by my husband’s last name, and it just never fit. I always felt like people were talking about someone else. So, legally, I have kept the mockable name.
How about the coach of the Detroit Lions–Jim Schwartz? The way the commentators always pronounce it makes me chuckle over the fact that there is a coach named Gym Shorts.
Well, I know a guy called Dick Kok. He’s Dutch, but does do business in the US. His experience is that his name is an icebreaker. I’ll say.
Then, there is last name Slettebak. Alledgedly it’s of Belgian origin. The name is awfully rude in Dutch, I am not sure in Flemish. For English speakers: look at the first four letters of the name and use your imagination. And yes, the name really exists, there is a late astronomer with that name, curiously of Norwegian decent.
I just saw a guy on TV named Richard Schmuck. Doesn’t “Schmuck” mean “Penis” in Yiddish? Dick Dick? Oof…
Joe
Yeah, but he could have been Richard or Richie. It was his choice to be Dick Kok. I suspect he’s going for name recognition. Like the Texas state treasurer who changed his name to Jesse James and kept getting elected.
Muffaletto is a fairly common family name around these parts. Around here, it doesn’t elicit a snicker; it’s just part of the landscape. There’s also a lot of monosyllabic German sound effect names around here; Klopp, Plonk, Klapp, Blick and so on.
With the huge Polish-American population around here, comically long, vowel-scarce, virtually unpronounceable Polish names are as common as “Smith” or “Jones” elsewhere. Poles are also very particular about how their names are pronounced, and many will get quite angry if you butcher it, even if its a particularly difficult name, you’ve never heard it pronounced, and you’re not Polish.
When I lived in New Mexico, I always get a kick out of De La O, translated as “Of the O”.
I hope our Yiddish-speaking Dopers will correct me if I’m wrong, but if I understand it correctly, it means “dick” as in “dickish” but not “penis” as in “body part”. Its literal meaning in German and I think also in Yiddish is “jewel”, so using it as an insult is sarcastic.
elmwood, de la O actually refers to the shape of a pregnant woman (many Spanish speakers don’t know this, though), which we call “estado de buena esperanza” - so its literal meaning is “of the O” but it actually means “of good hope”/“of pregnancy”.
I worked with a guy with the surname “Smallbone”. Great guy, but I couldn’t keep a straight face. Yes, I am that juvenile.
I went to school with some guy called Neil Cunst.
Wasn’t the guy who was driving the truck that killed James Dean called Donald Turnipseed?
I went to school with a girl with the last name of Hore.
Not as risque as some, but I’ve met a Peter Good and a whole family of Sourbeers. I asked the daughter and she said yes, it was fodder for frat jokes.
Cambodia’s foeign minister is named Hor. Hor Namhong.