You know how it used to be that everyone you knew from Hong Kong's English names sounded like they were taken from an E.M Forster novel? Well not anymore.
At least I think that's what this really long Atlantic article is saying. Freed from their British colonialist shackles, comfortable with English, and reveling in their own internationalized culture, Hong Kongers are just cold picking "weird" English names now, names that aren't even names.
Or maybe their English teachers are giving them "weird" names now. It's all unclear to me. What does weird even mean? Not named Judy? HKSAR Blog which is 1100 days into its "HKSAR Name of the Day list, calls them "Novel."
Decemb. Februar. Cola. Never Wong. Vicky Cheng [a guy]. Ice. Cash.
I don't know what this means for Hong Kong.
But I do know that, as I was typing this, I was listening to the [awesomely named] American indie radio guy Roman Mars [right?] who, at the end of his story on razzle dazzle camouflage, casually dropped this naming awesome bomb following a comment from his son: "In kindergarten, they call him 'Science Boy,' and Science was quite literally thisclose to being his real middle name. Instead, he's Atomic."
So obviously, names. People all over the world have them. And some people will inevitably think the cool ones are weird.
Hong Kong Love Weird English Names [theatlantic]
Episode 65: Razzle Dazzle [
