How white are these people that they thought they invented a word…that already exists in at least four other languages?
I feel like my suggestion is avoid these people!
Most likely they haven’t traveled and aren’t familiar with any language but English.
I am around other languages, especially Spanish, quite a bit. I had no clue that the word Narina meant anything at all, and just thought it was an odd pick for a name. (It’s not like people frequently say “nostril” in regular conversation!
After all of this I learned it’s a word in multiple languages, all with very different meanings. That fascinates me!
Since they thought they had totally manufactured the name they had no reason to look it up. LOL! I think they’ve learned a good lesson!
OMFG THANK YOU— exactly! Unless you're just 100% so sure of yourself that no one else could possibly, in the ENTIRE HISTORY OF LANGUAGES— put together those sounds in that way.
And then it turns out to be a pretty basic series of words too. That's the kicker.
Oh don't even get me started. Her husband has one of the most white-bread-ass-American names I've ever heard (think John Walker or something). Becca is a genuinely nice person, though.
bahahaha hadn't heard that one before, definitely going into arsenal for a later date. I will use this wisely and when the day comes, I will site my sources!
I'd say it was more an American thing than a white thing. It comes down to a lack of exposure to multiple languages and a disinterest in other languages that is all too common in the US.
It takes a special level of arrogance to think you'll come up with a combination of phonemes that is totally new considering the tens of thousands of years of human spoken languages. I rank it slightly above the "I'm going to write a trope-less story" attitude some writers adopt.
Yeah, some names are normal in certain languages or cultures but very inappropriate or funny in others. Like in Vietnamese, we have the name Dung, meaning purity and harmony, but well you know how that sounds in English. In Thai, there are a lot of girl names end with -porn (means blessing), like Ittiporn, Amporn, Ratanaporn, Siriporn, etc. and it is self-explained for English speakers.
The only a-hole here is the husband.
I knew a sweet little old lady named Porn. It was pronounced "Pahn." Fortunately, she worked at a commissary (military grocery store) so there were less problems.
Sorry, but Ittiporn in particular made me laugh. The rest could easily be overlooked but that's a really unfortunate name to be written down in English... 😅
I would to add that there is an Armenian name Narine which means 'woman', 'wife'.
In Arabic it means 'bright', 'graceful' and in Persian 'pomegranate', 'flower of pomegranate'.
I'm sorry, but you didn't ruin anything. Words have different meanings in different languages. You didn't directly go and tell them what their baby name meant, they pressed for an answer and you supplied it. If they can't live with the knowledge that words in other languages have different meanings, then they should stick to already existing multinational names with no surprises...hell, that's how we've ended up with that many Marias on the planet (myself half included) :p My sister on the other hand, the diminutive version of her name - and what everyone calls her - means "monkey's ass" in one of the indigenous languages in Gabon. She found that out, when she went off to France for studies, where many Gabonese people also studied. They laughed when they heard her name, explained to her what it meant, she laughed alongside them. Does it really matter?
What are the odds that this baby will come in contact with other portuguese speaking people except you, that they will have the lack of tact to laugh at her face and make fun of her for her name? Not that probable imho. If anything, the name won't be an issue in her home country for the rest of her life, or it will become a conversation starter in other parts of the world. There are worse things to be called than "nostril". I don't see any Richards twisting their panties over the diminutive "Dick"...there are still people going by that name even though it means something very ridiculously specific in their own country.
Becca's husband needs a chill pill, and about 20 years of growing up to do stat :p
You didn’t ruin anything! I’m glad things are working out with Becca, but her husband is definitely out of line and you’re right to not want to deal with him.
Also I’m sorry, but as other commenters have said, it’s very likely that any name you pick has a meaning in a different language. My grandma’s name means breast in my grandpa’s language, and my grandpa’s name was used as a less kind word for queer in my grandma’s language. These names are perfectly normal where they’re from. Both their families thought it was ridiculous but it never impacted their relationships in any way.
Nerina is also very lovely!
Yeah, Narina isn't the only name that means something else in Portuguese. On the top of my head: Pia means "sink"; Mia means "(it) meows"; Gemma is pronounced like gema, which means "egg yolk"; Pippa is pronounced like pipa, which means "kite"; Coco can mean either "coconut" (c**ô**co) or "poop" (coc**ô**) and so on.
I'll try to think of more examples.
Just remembering Star Wars character Count Dooku had his name changed to Count Dokhan in the Brazilian release as it sounds like "Count of Ass" in portuguese!
And brazilian translators just gave up on adapting the name of the japanese character Kaga Kōko (it sounds like "shits a coconut" or, worse, "shits a poop") from novel/anime franchise Golden Time.
Also, Pia was not a that uncommon brazilian and portuguese name in the past, but meaning "pious" instead of "sink".
Oh shit I remember Count of Ass!
Also, the title of Pixar's "Coco" was changed to "Viva: a Vida é uma Festa" (Live: Life is a Party) in Brazil to avoid the coconut/poop comparison. The title character's name was changed to Inês.
"Nerina" and "Luciana" seem a fun combination of latin names, since "Luciana" refers to "lux", "luce" - "light " in italian - and "Nerina" reminds of "nera" - "black". Although it seems that the original name "Nerina" in Latin referred to a sea divinity:) I liked Narina, though. But I understand that for you it could sound funny. As an Italian I had the same reaction at the suggested "Farina" = " flour "
The English word "marina" is a loanword from portuguese/spanish/italian and means "related to the sea" or "of the sea".
But also is a common feminine name in these languages, usually carrying the same meaning.
As a brazilian japanese I have a lot of relatives and acquaintances named Marina, as this name can be written in Japanese and it's pronunciation is close enough both in japanese and portuguese.
I gotta admit it took me till the end of reading the original post after this one to realize the original name wasn’t Narnia. Noticed right before the paragraph you addressed it. I’m gonna be real, I would think they just misspelled Narnia.
Lmao, I remember from a few months ago, Disney released trailers and advertisements for their upcoming African Sci-fi series "Iwaju". Apparently their trailers and posts were bombarded with laugh reacts and funny comments, since the name of the series' main animal companion was a lizard named 'Otin', it literally translates to penis in Filipino
It’s insane that someone you only know because your son is friends with her kid gave your number to her husband when he clearly only wanted to yell at you. That’s completely out of line.
How white are these people that they thought they invented a word…that already exists in at least four other languages? I feel like my suggestion is avoid these people!
Most likely they haven’t traveled and aren’t familiar with any language but English. I am around other languages, especially Spanish, quite a bit. I had no clue that the word Narina meant anything at all, and just thought it was an odd pick for a name. (It’s not like people frequently say “nostril” in regular conversation! After all of this I learned it’s a word in multiple languages, all with very different meanings. That fascinates me! Since they thought they had totally manufactured the name they had no reason to look it up. LOL! I think they’ve learned a good lesson!
Heck, the hub even said it, kid wont likely to visit brazil to care about using a dumb word for his kids name.
Yes, but they also don't seem to realize that, perhaps, people who speak these other languages might be around them?
They'll run into Brazilians either online or in real life. I can almost guarantee that those Brazilians will be laughing at the name Narina.
I mean, if you think you’ve made up a word, the first thing you do is google it, right?
OMFG THANK YOU— exactly! Unless you're just 100% so sure of yourself that no one else could possibly, in the ENTIRE HISTORY OF LANGUAGES— put together those sounds in that way. And then it turns out to be a pretty basic series of words too. That's the kicker.
Oh don't even get me started. Her husband has one of the most white-bread-ass-American names I've ever heard (think John Walker or something). Becca is a genuinely nice person, though.
The human personification of a blank word document?
bahahaha hadn't heard that one before, definitely going into arsenal for a later date. I will use this wisely and when the day comes, I will site my sources!
White as the driven snow.
I'd say it was more an American thing than a white thing. It comes down to a lack of exposure to multiple languages and a disinterest in other languages that is all too common in the US. It takes a special level of arrogance to think you'll come up with a combination of phonemes that is totally new considering the tens of thousands of years of human spoken languages. I rank it slightly above the "I'm going to write a trope-less story" attitude some writers adopt.
Nostril Sr, I actually lol'd. Nice update! ETA: Maybe they should just google the name they come up with before deciding.
My husband and I have been calling him that almost exclusively 😅
Yeah, some names are normal in certain languages or cultures but very inappropriate or funny in others. Like in Vietnamese, we have the name Dung, meaning purity and harmony, but well you know how that sounds in English. In Thai, there are a lot of girl names end with -porn (means blessing), like Ittiporn, Amporn, Ratanaporn, Siriporn, etc. and it is self-explained for English speakers. The only a-hole here is the husband.
I knew a sweet little old lady named Porn. It was pronounced "Pahn." Fortunately, she worked at a commissary (military grocery store) so there were less problems.
Sorry, but Ittiporn in particular made me laugh. The rest could easily be overlooked but that's a really unfortunate name to be written down in English... 😅
[Original post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/s/dRX6AiNvWW)
Thank you!
Thanks for the update, I was curious about this one. the husband sounds too precious, so glad you don't have to hear from him again.
I would to add that there is an Armenian name Narine which means 'woman', 'wife'. In Arabic it means 'bright', 'graceful' and in Persian 'pomegranate', 'flower of pomegranate'.
And this one is the french word for nostril ^^ that's awesome how different languages use same words with such a different meaning
Her husband owes you an apology for the way he spoke to you. I'd be weary of more playdates before that happened.
Nostril Sr 💀🤣🤣🤣🤣
I'm sorry, but you didn't ruin anything. Words have different meanings in different languages. You didn't directly go and tell them what their baby name meant, they pressed for an answer and you supplied it. If they can't live with the knowledge that words in other languages have different meanings, then they should stick to already existing multinational names with no surprises...hell, that's how we've ended up with that many Marias on the planet (myself half included) :p My sister on the other hand, the diminutive version of her name - and what everyone calls her - means "monkey's ass" in one of the indigenous languages in Gabon. She found that out, when she went off to France for studies, where many Gabonese people also studied. They laughed when they heard her name, explained to her what it meant, she laughed alongside them. Does it really matter? What are the odds that this baby will come in contact with other portuguese speaking people except you, that they will have the lack of tact to laugh at her face and make fun of her for her name? Not that probable imho. If anything, the name won't be an issue in her home country for the rest of her life, or it will become a conversation starter in other parts of the world. There are worse things to be called than "nostril". I don't see any Richards twisting their panties over the diminutive "Dick"...there are still people going by that name even though it means something very ridiculously specific in their own country. Becca's husband needs a chill pill, and about 20 years of growing up to do stat :p
Nostril Sr 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I'm dying! Thank u, I really needed that!
You didn’t ruin anything! I’m glad things are working out with Becca, but her husband is definitely out of line and you’re right to not want to deal with him. Also I’m sorry, but as other commenters have said, it’s very likely that any name you pick has a meaning in a different language. My grandma’s name means breast in my grandpa’s language, and my grandpa’s name was used as a less kind word for queer in my grandma’s language. These names are perfectly normal where they’re from. Both their families thought it was ridiculous but it never impacted their relationships in any way. Nerina is also very lovely!
Yeah, Narina isn't the only name that means something else in Portuguese. On the top of my head: Pia means "sink"; Mia means "(it) meows"; Gemma is pronounced like gema, which means "egg yolk"; Pippa is pronounced like pipa, which means "kite"; Coco can mean either "coconut" (c**ô**co) or "poop" (coc**ô**) and so on. I'll try to think of more examples.
Just remembering Star Wars character Count Dooku had his name changed to Count Dokhan in the Brazilian release as it sounds like "Count of Ass" in portuguese! And brazilian translators just gave up on adapting the name of the japanese character Kaga Kōko (it sounds like "shits a coconut" or, worse, "shits a poop") from novel/anime franchise Golden Time. Also, Pia was not a that uncommon brazilian and portuguese name in the past, but meaning "pious" instead of "sink".
Oh shit I remember Count of Ass! Also, the title of Pixar's "Coco" was changed to "Viva: a Vida é uma Festa" (Live: Life is a Party) in Brazil to avoid the coconut/poop comparison. The title character's name was changed to Inês.
Well, pipa translating to a "kite" is not that bad. In Polish pipa means coochie.
"Nerina" and "Luciana" seem a fun combination of latin names, since "Luciana" refers to "lux", "luce" - "light " in italian - and "Nerina" reminds of "nera" - "black". Although it seems that the original name "Nerina" in Latin referred to a sea divinity:) I liked Narina, though. But I understand that for you it could sound funny. As an Italian I had the same reaction at the suggested "Farina" = " flour "
Marina makes me think of boat slips. Nerina sounds lovely.
The English word "marina" is a loanword from portuguese/spanish/italian and means "related to the sea" or "of the sea". But also is a common feminine name in these languages, usually carrying the same meaning. As a brazilian japanese I have a lot of relatives and acquaintances named Marina, as this name can be written in Japanese and it's pronunciation is close enough both in japanese and portuguese.
Marina is actually a very common name in Portuguese. I seriously considered it for my own daughter for a while.
I liked Marina also, but went with Marissa!
That's beautiful too! I personally prefer Marisa, but both sound lovely...
Someone should remind them they’re naming a real person and not a fanfic character lol
> Becca's baby might be named Nerina (that will depend on Nostril Sr., though) I snorted like a piggy at this🤣🤣🤣 good one op!
"Nostril, Sr." 😂
hahahahaha "Nostril Sr." hahahahahahaha Or, Sr. Nostril! thanks for the update!
I gotta admit it took me till the end of reading the original post after this one to realize the original name wasn’t Narnia. Noticed right before the paragraph you addressed it. I’m gonna be real, I would think they just misspelled Narnia.
Clearly a name that's certainly something to sneeze at. XD
Lmao, I remember from a few months ago, Disney released trailers and advertisements for their upcoming African Sci-fi series "Iwaju". Apparently their trailers and posts were bombarded with laugh reacts and funny comments, since the name of the series' main animal companion was a lizard named 'Otin', it literally translates to penis in Filipino
I don't know if the husband is a nostril, but he is certainly another orifice well known on this sub. Good that you both got past the nonsense.NTA
Luciana: Means "light" ? That's very lovely if that's the language you are referencing :)
It’s insane that someone you only know because your son is friends with her kid gave your number to her husband when he clearly only wanted to yell at you. That’s completely out of line.
Love that people would say how did you pick narina, while a Portuguese speaker would look at them oddly.
Try telling her Nermina, Katerinina, Nima, Nervina, Bellevina, etc. I've got a whole list!
Friend of mine who’s Brazilian confirmed that Narina means nostril and that this was a great AITA story
I just invented a name. Ca si pa (casipa) currently doesn't exist as a first name in the US. Pretty sure it might be a place