Names

So the Burmese pro-democracy activist and former head of the armed forces is called U Tin Oo. I wonder how you pronounce that. Is there a difference between U and Oo?


The king of Thailand, criticism of whom gets you three to fifteen years in jail, is called Bhumibol. The chief minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, has a common and prestigious Brahmin surname, which worried English speakers often pronounce Dixit. There are many names that don't sound good in English, like Chew Kok or the athlete Yoo Suk or poor Mike Litoris. Then there are the unpronounceable ones like Karl Thojntxhebvwg (think I got that right) and the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull that filled the European skies with ash in 2010. Wikipedia helpfully provides the pronunciation of that one: [eɪjaˌfjatlaˌjœkʏtl̥].


And don't get me started on the stupid first name last name combinations parents come up with, like the Teeds, who called their sons Garren and Warren, or the Lands, who named their daughter Alison Wanda. Well, now I am started, how about the names discovered by a British baby names website, like Justin Case, Stan Still, Jo King, Paige Turner. TheBabyWebsite.com commented sensibly "Parents really do need to think carefully when choosing names for their children."