Korean Job Discussion Forums

[oneofthesarahs]

I have a Hilton and a Beyonce.

[mole]

I had a kid call himself Toy Story.
A fluent, and affluent, businessman called himself Oxygen. Because it was easy to remember.
Would have been easier if he could pronounce it well.

[seoulsucker]

[lowpo]

[Trumpcard]

girl named Jewelry, apparently chose the name with her mother.

[merkurix]

Here is a new one! Today I had a student privately request that their nickname change from Phil to "Tird." I tried not to laugh; I almost belted out a loud obnoxious guffaw when I heard this. I asked him why he wanted this name. Apparently it is a portmantaeu of his own devising--with the words "top bird" as his friends call him during basketball practice. How does one even begin to pronounce this??? LOL

[oneofthesarahs]

I have a student whose parents decided to give her an English first name. Her given name is Laura. But she doesn't think it's fair that everyone else gets English nicknames, and insists upon being called Helen.

[smogdonkey]

[JongnoGuru]

I don't really see the point of these "nicknames". I've read many threads here by teachers who like or (usually) dislike the custom of assigning actual, legitimate English names to children in their classes. Robert, Cindy, Charlie, Rose, Eugene. I assume the teacher and other students address everyone by these assigned names. Students can continue using their English names as grow older, put them on the English side of the business cards, etc.

So on top of the standard English assigned names, and on top of their original Korean names, now we've got these bizarre "nicknames" that aren't real names and can't seriously be used anywhere outside of the one-hour English class. I don't expect to receive name cards from "Vomit Choi, Secretary" or "Pancake Park, Ass't. Deputy Director" anytime soon.

[Qinella]

[formerflautist]

They're fun and harmless. I believe that when my Yoda, E.T., and Princess (a name I really hate and tried to discourage) are more mature, they will drop these names and either pick more appropriate ones or just use their Korean names.

[techno_the_cat]

Castro
Stalin
Atilla

Coltrane
Hendrix
Joplin

Mario
Sonic

And my personal favorite

Crackhead...He had no idea

[Novernae]

Subway Station
Bona (????)
Ven -- and he gets really angry when I try to spell it Ben, and yet he won't learn to actually say Ven. I also have a Revecca in that same class, but she was willing to understand the problem and now goes by Rebecca. Go figure, she's a top student and he's not.

[faster]

Best I've ever heard:

Pablo

[merkurix]