Comments on: ‘Funny Names’: The Issue that Refuses to Die

By: Pravin

Pravin — Tue, 04 May 2010 23:10:23 +0000

As names become commonplace, they become easier to pronounce. Very few Americans mispronounce Patel. Sanjay is pronounced in an "acceptable" manner because it has become common.It does bother me that Sanjay Gupta doesn't get CNN to pronounce his last name correctly. I doubt Goopta is easier to pronounce than Gupta.

And no one mispronounces my name, once I tell them what it is. Sometimes I will use the more common alternate spelling of my name in informal blogs and other non legal stuff to make it easier on folks.

Yalamanchili is a freaking tough name for non-Indians. I don't blame him for trying to make it easy for the voters. Maybe he can just go by Surya Y instead of having to go by Chili.

By: Uncle Zee

Uncle Zee — Tue, 04 May 2010 00:59:06 +0000

the thing that bothers me about the candidate (of course he's not the only one) is this "child of blue collar immigrants" sell

but I can't stand that cashing in on a stereotypical "immigrant" experience.

I am reminded of a dialogue in the Big Bang Theory TV show where the indian character (Raj) tries to impress his buddies how he overcame a lot of hardship and climbed his way to American academia from humble beginnings in India. One of the white characters reminds him that his father is a physician in Delhi who drives a Bentley. So much for humble beginnings.

By: noblekinsman

noblekinsman — Tue, 04 May 2010 00:03:40 +0000

the thing that bothers me about the candidate (of course he’s not the only one) is this “child of blue collar immigrants” sell, which, honestly, I bet is fraudulent. there was another Indian candidate who liked to stress/create “humble” roots. From what I understand, the candidate’s father was a military engineer, he grew up in very posh surroundings, none of which says he won’t make a fine congressman, but I can’t stand that cashing in on a stereotypical “immigrant” experience.

By: kuffir

kuffir — Mon, 03 May 2010 23:40:51 +0000

this discussion throws up interesting associations. in guntur,where surya yalamanchili’s family probably comes from originally(the chilly varieties grown in guntur are considered among the hottest in india) it’s the dalits who have to face prejudice from the prosperous, ‘upper caste’ kammas.in andhra pradesh ‘yalamanchili’ is both a surname, among kammas mainly, and the name of a village/town (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelamanchili) in coastal andhra. one politician with same surname (sivaji yalamanchili), i think there might be others, had been elected to both parliament and local state assembly more than once.

By: LinZi

LinZi — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:42:40 +0000

i guess brown people look distinctive, but we also can be confused for greek, black, or latino, and none of those groups have "hard" names. though i guess arabs might.

Any set of names that is unfamiliar will be hard...maybe you think this Greek brand name is not "hard" (Peloponnese) but for most Americans in my area, they would have a hard time figuring out how to pronounce it. The same with latino names (I wonder how many people in my area can pronounce Jorge properly? I can just imagine... "Umm, George? I mean.. Gor-jay? uhh..") It's all about exposure. It's not really about brownness either... French names can also be very hard for many people to pronounce-- one my family stumbles on is Romain, (does not sound like it looks It's more like RomaiH (nasalized) rather tham ro-maine or roman). Indians had an equally hard time with my student from the Cote D'Ivoire.. his name was Herve. (pronounced "Erh-vay, not Herv or her-vey)

And while some Arabs might have hard names to pronounce, others may not (Christianity, which afterall, is where many American names come from, originated in the Middle East).

It's all about what is known and not... names generally follow the pronunciation rules from which they are from (unless they have been appropriated for a long time) so if you do not know the language from which it comes, it will be hard to pronounce.

By: achayan

achayan — Sat, 01 May 2010 15:44:47 +0000

LOL…..i knew there would be debate on who’s more racist, Republicans or Democrats. I think its a waste of time to label large groups of people as being racist. How do you measure racism anyways? I’m sure all of us have felt something that can be described as racist at some point in our lives. Both the Republican and Democratic parties are huge parties with millions of members. Republicans can be vaguely described as conservative/classical liberal and Democrats can be described as left-wing but in the realm of practical politics those labels don’t really matter. Just pick your favorite animal and get involved. And, ignore the “racists”.

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 01 May 2010 15:13:15 +0000

I think that “Vote Chili” is good, but what about “Vote Manchili” (pronounced Man Chili). Chili is good, but Man Chili is even better, stronger, muscley, and since he’s a man going up against a man, being seen as a strong powerful figure probably won’t hut.

By: Manju

Manju — Sat, 01 May 2010 08:18:35 +0000

but what about the name "raj." that sounds pretty cool.

I think I've settled on Gotham Zed.

By: anony

anony — Sat, 01 May 2010 06:16:02 +0000

Wasn’t he also on apprentice?

By: Pavani

Pavani — Sat, 01 May 2010 05:03:08 +0000

â€œYalamanchiliâ€ is a bit of a toughie as far as complicated Desi names goes. Yalamanchili, of course, was already well aware of this, judging by his campaign slogan: â€œVote Chiliâ€.

I think you're right, but before I checked to see which congressional district Cincinnati was in I was liked to think that his slogan was intended to appeal to fans of a certain colorful and regional dish made with ingredients such as cinnamon, cloves and chocolate and topped with little haystack-like heaps of shredded cheese.