and you thought apple or moon unit was bad

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BEIJING (AP) - A Chinese couple seeking a distinctive name for their child have settled on the e-mail 'at' symbol - annoying government officials grappling with an influx of unorthodox names.

Chinese couple tries to name baby with the e-mail 'at' symbol

The unidentified couple were cited Thursday by a government official as an example of citizens bringing bizarre names into the Chinese language.

Written Chinese does not use an alphabet but is comprised of characters, sometimes making it difficult to develop words for new or foreign objects and ideas.

However, the letters 'a' and 't' can be pronounced in a way that sounds like the phrase "love him," said Li Yuming, vice-director of the State Language Commission.

Li told a news conference that the father explained his choice by saying the whole world uses the symbol to write e-mails and that "translated into Chinese, it means 'love him,' "

Li did not say if police, who are the arbiters of names because they issue identity cards, have accepted or rejected the name.

As of last year, only 129 names accounted for 87 per cent of all surnames in China, Li said.

NMyTree

You mean ....



" " ?


Ah yes, I know him well.


:D:D

brain of c

back off! dweezil is my cat.

Deni

that's nearly as bad as that dude who named his kid "two point oh".

sponger

The @ symbol is referred to as "spider monkey" in german so I hear.

Cosmo

I think the Chinese just ran out of names... that's all.

even flow?

I was listening to the CBC last night and they had a little show about names in Nairobi. Kids with the name, computer, Bush, Osama and a lot more odd names then that. It was pretty funny listening to why they named their children after current events. The lady who named her child Osama did it because she had the child on 911 during the attacks. Strange as it seems.

http://www.cbc.ca/dispatches/

Go to part two and listen if you want. The stuff about France is pretty good too.