Chop Shops and Green Pancakes

Today brings another installment of the continuing adventures of sculptor Joel Haas in Taiwan, in which Joel has his name translated phonetically into Chinese, yielding a memorable, if embarrassing phrase. He then has a chop made with his characters. Link

Previously at Neatorama: A Trip to Taipei's Shilin Night Market and Not In Kansas Anymore

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When you create your Chinese name phonetically there is always the potential for comedy - my name, when translated phonetically, means "turnip head". When I first got to China many years ago my business card would always crack up the Chinese people I gave them to.

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Can't Joel get his own blog?

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Not the first foreigner to get an idiot Chinese name (or tattoo) and prob not the last... well, it's good vengeance for all the ridiculous English names I've heard in Taiwan, highlights include: Shopping, Kiwi, Apple, Butter, Tarzan, and Cash.

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The larger character ? means Chinese mugwort, and the two smaller characters ?? mean "drink alcohol".

However, phonetically they do not sound like "Joel Haas".

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