Skaters' nicknames

[brightphoton]

Bingwa Geng's first name means ice doll in Chinese. I would've been nervous naming my children that. What if she went into volleyball or something.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Bingwa Geng's first name means ice doll in Chinese. I would've been nervous naming my children that. What if she went into volleyball or something.

Bing is ice and wa can be a doll or a baby. Her father is a Hockey player and her mom is a figure skating coach. They pretty much knew she would spend quite a bit of time on ice.

 

[brightphoton]

It's a good thing that worked out!

 

[Mathman]

Brandon Mroz' last name means "frost.' Many immigrants to the U.S. from Poland changed their name from Mroz to Frost.

 

[dorispulaski]

Ehm, I take it that none of the Russian speakers here have read the first posts... Suka is not exactly a beautiful word in Russian, so even if the nickname is for a Japanese person, it might not be the nicest when meeting a Russian. Just like the Finnish name Aho seems to be hilarious for the Japanese.

I find Ari-Pekka Nurmenkari's first name amusing, myself. (Finnish skater)

 

[skateluvr]

Shizuka Arakawa (shizzle) was called "cool beauty" by Sandra Bezic during commentary. Is that a literal translation or a skating insider nickname? It fits, whichever way. Kristi is called Yama by her peers.

 

[skateluvr]

Speaking of names and maybe coincidence, do y'all remember in the movie Jerry McGuire how Cuba Gooding's football character kept talking about the "kwan." Meaning luck, power, or something wonderful. Not long after that movie came a phenom skater whose name is very famous and is certainly associated with winning, power, money. I wondered where they got the "kwan thing" however it was spelled in the movie.

 

[Mathman]

Kristi is called Yama by her peers.

I think Yama means mountain.

Speaking of names and maybe coincidence, do y'all remember in the movie Jerry McGuire how Cuba Gooding's football character kept talking about the "kwan." Meaning luck, power, or something wonderful. Not long after that movie came a phenom skater whose name is very famous and is certainly associated with winning, power, money. I wondered where they got the "kwan thing" however it was spelled in the movie.

Actually, the movie came out in December of 1996, nine months after Michelle won the world championship with Salome. So it is possible...nah, I am pretty sure there is no actual connection. I don't think "the kwan" has any origin, it just sounded cool to the script writers.

"Some dudes might have the coin, but they'll never have the Kwan."

 

[skateluvr]

Well, every Oly champ does climb a mountain and Kristi did. And I think they DID DID LOL, see Michelle and stole the name! Kwan sounds to me like a currency and I remember the nugget from Grandma Michelle wore for a very long time. Golden Michelle Kwan.

Speaking of Michelle (and why not?) I was watching a you tube video about her where Peggy was being interviewed in the MK documentary, and Peggy said, and that was a few years back, that she thought Michelle "would be called the best skater in history in 20 years time." I can see it!

 

[Violet Bliss]

Quan

I've always thought of it as Quantum's nickname.

 

[skatinginbc]

Icelandic surnames are formed from a parent's name. What's interesting is that sometimes, rather than having the father's name, they have their mother's name. In either case, -son or -dottir is added to the parent's name

Without the need for a dictionary, I can see "dottir" means "daughter" . It shows how close Icelandic (a North Germanic language) is to English (a West Germanic language).

 

[skatinginbc]

Brandon Mroz' last name means "frost.' Many immigrants to the U.S. from Poland changed their name from Mroz to Frost.

It reminds me of Nikolai Morozov, a jolly happy soul with two eyes made out of coal. Thumpetty thump thump, thumpety thump thump...

 

[skatinginbc]

Shizuka Arakawa (shizzle) was called "cool beauty" by Sandra Bezic during commentary. Is that a literal translation or a skating insider nickname?

Shizuka means "quiet" or "calm". I don't know if it has something to do with "cool".

 

[Olympia]

Without the need for a dictionary, I can see "dottir" means "daughter" . It shows how close Icelandic (a North Germanic language) is to English (a West Germanic language).

Yup! We're related to German, Scandinavian languages, Dutch and the Dutch-based Afrikaans, and I think Flemish. But we're way out there in terms of all sorts of vocabulary and structural features because we had that infusion of Romance languages when the Normans (French-speaking) took over and revamped English to their needs. The difference between Old English, or Anglo-Saxon (in which Beowulf was created) and Middle English (in which Chaucer wrote) is huge.

This is OT, but one interesting thing about English after the Normans changed it is that it lost most gender markers. Except for obvious nouns like boy or grandmother, most nouns aren't feminine or masculine gender. You don't have to make the article or the adjective agree with the noun. To my knowledge, English is the only major language without gender markers. Anyone here know of any other genderless languages?

I think the people of Iceland are among the few remaining Western people who use real patronymics as their last names: their surnames come from their fathers (sometimes their mothers), so each generation has a different surname. People in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark often have names ending in -sen or -son, but those names come down from more distant ancestors, and they don't change in each generation. I don't know how they deal with genealogy there--interesting question.

How nifty about Michelle's last name! I had forgotten that bit from Jerry McGuire.

 

[skatinginbc]

The difference between Old English, or Anglo-Saxon (in which Beowulf was created) and Middle English (in which Chaucer wrote) is huge.

I took Old English in school and, you know what, I cannot remember anything I learned, not even a single word, as if I had never been in the class. I don't know what makes it so forgettable.

Anyone here know of any other genderless languages?

Chinese, for example.

 

[CassAgain]

I fall into the habit of doing those name smushes with ice dance teams. BelGusto and DomShabs are just so great. I'm less fond of Voir because it sounds like voyeur. Marlie is too much Charlie and not enough Meryl. I think it should be Merlie. I think The Shibs fits Alex and Maya perfectly.

 

[dorispulaski]

Personally, I'm happy with Meryl & Charlie and Scott & Tessa. In each case, there are only 3 syllables. Voir & Marlie just sound like something in some on-line computer game to me. The Voir have attacked! Get out your Marlie to repel them!

 

[seniorita]

I love this thread, I m amazed with Japanese names that they have a meaning, Christian names are just names

So wHat is aho in Japanese? I know the Russian one

 

[Mathman]

Quan

I've always thought of it as Quantum's nickname.

I think the term "quantum leap" came from this:

http://michellekwan.fateback.com/images/03-04/04worldsex-fallingleaf.jpg

Shizuka means "quiet" or "calm". I don't know if it has something to do with "cool".

I think cool in the slang sense of laid back, unflappable.

I think The Shibs fits Alex and Maya perfectly.

They could be Malex. Except that's medicine for an upset stomach.

I So wHat is aho in Japanese?

Stupid.

 

[Violet Bliss]

I love this thread, I m amazed with Japanese names that they have a meaning, Christian names are just names

So wHat is aho in Japanese?

Stupid.

Now now, no need to insult her for asking.