I was in a Chinese takeaway when the girl behind the counter started giggling and then ran into the kitchen - whereupon there were peals of laughter from everyone behind the scenes. She had seen my bicycle light on the counter - it had "LON" written on it. Does Lon mean something in Chinese? Help me before I get paranoid...
Lon David, Aberbaiden, UK
- While I hate to increase your sense of paranoia, LON or lon, in a now obscure form of Mandarin, means dickhead, or more accurately cocktop. And, yes, our Chinese friends also find cause to giggle when we sing, "Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner".
Roy Tuvey, London, UK
- Have a look at http://www.notam.uio.no/~hcholm/altlang/ It's an alternative slang dictionary and has a section on both Mandarin and Cantonese. Please let me know what happens the next time you go into the takeaway and ask for a "diu lay lo mo hail" or a "chou ni ma de bi". It should be interesting.
Dave, Bilbao, Spain
- If it's any consolation, Lon, yours is not the worst possible name. While visiting Koblenz, Germany last summer I was bemused to see a city bus trundle past with the word FUCK painted in large green letters on its side. The city phone book revealed that Fuck and Fucks are local surnames. The sign on the bus turned out to be advertisement for a local printing company.
Peter Post, Boston USA
- My cousin in Alberta, Canada rents flats to two tenants, one is named Prik (surname) and the other is Phuc (given name).
Jane, Chiswick UK
- I lived in Holland for a while and whilst visiting London about three years ago noticed that the tube was calling itself LUL (London Underground Limited). This is the Dutch for 'dick'. Maybe this is why they just call themselves LU now?? Although that's probably just as rude in another language....
James Geldart, London
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