No 'buoi' please, we're Vietnamese

[sligoman]

What do a Vietnamese grapefruit seller and a gender activist have in common?

Both have had applications to register Web site addresses rejected by authorities because the names contained words which could lead people to believe they were pornographic sites.

The fruit seller was tripped up by the tonal Vietnamese language, in which 'buoi' can mean either a grapefruit or slang for penis.

State-run Vietnam Television said late on Friday that the gender activist had wanted his Web site to be called sex.com.vn, which the country's Internet domain control body rejected. Pornography is banned in the Communist-ruled country.

Sites containing 'lon', which can mean either 'pigs' or 'vagina' depending on the tone, and 'xxx' are also not allowed, the television said.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/11022006/80...ietnamese.html

[AidoM]

What do a Vietnamese grapefruit seller and a gender activist have in common?

Both have had applications to register Web site addresses rejected by authorities because the names contained words which could lead people to believe they were pornographic sites.

The fruit seller was tripped up by the tonal Vietnamese language, in which 'buoi' can mean either a grapefruit or slang for penis.

State-run Vietnam Television said late on Friday that the gender activist had wanted his Web site to be called sex.com.vn, which the country's Internet domain control body rejected. Pornography is banned in the Communist-ruled country.

Sites containing 'lon', which can mean either 'pigs' or 'vagina' depending on the tone, and 'xxx' are also not allowed, the television said.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/11022006/80...ietnamese.html

Should this be in the useless facts thread

[hamish]

Reminds me of an old issue of Private Eye where they showed a photocopy of a page from the Hong Kong telephone directory - one of the names was

Fuk Yiu

[dcfcsteve]

What do a Vietnamese grapefruit seller and a gender activist have in common?

Both have had applications to register Web site addresses rejected by authorities because the names contained words which could lead people to believe they were pornographic sites.

The fruit seller was tripped up by the tonal Vietnamese language, in which 'buoi' can mean either a grapefruit or slang for penis.

State-run Vietnam Television said late on Friday that the gender activist had wanted his Web site to be called sex.com.vn, which the country's Internet domain control body rejected. Pornography is banned in the Communist-ruled country.

Sites containing 'lon', which can mean either 'pigs' or 'vagina' depending on the tone, and 'xxx' are also not allowed, the television said.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/11022006/80...ietnamese.html

Sphincter say whaaaa...?

I'm drunk, and I'm still struggling to make any sense of this post....

[CollegeTillIDie]

Reminds me of an old issue of Private Eye where they showed a photocopy of a page from the Hong Kong telephone directory - one of the names was

Fuk Yiu

Yes but Yiu was his first name

[hamish]

Yes but Yiu was his first name

Oh, don't be so fussy - the words were printed in that order in the directory.

You got me thinking there - seems that the name is "reversed" in many cultures.
Wonder how many?
We all know that Saddam is his surname, for example, and you come across it in various football matches when Middle East and African teams play.

Cheers DieITillCollege

HamishSir

[CollegeTillIDie]

Oh, don't be so fussy - the words were printed in that order in the directory.

You got me thinking there - seems that the name is "reversed" in many cultures.
Wonder how many?
We all know that Saddam is his surname, for example, and you come across it in various football matches when Middle East and African teams play.

Cheers DieITillCollege

HamishSir

fnar fnar fnar fnar fnar