Friday, March 30, 2007

Swede and Sour

What's the deal with the stupid names in Sweden? No, not Bjorn; that's a good name. I mean...

A woman whose name was difficult to pronounce used her one legal name change to call herself Willy. Too late she realized that the name had connotations of which she was not previously aware, Aftonbladet reports... At first Willy seemed like a nice enough alternative. But that was before somebody made her aware of its slang usage in some English-speaking countries. She was also informed that the name is generally reserved for males.
And
The pilloried residents of Fjuckby have been left with little option but to endure their village's unfortunate name after the Institute of Language and Folklore rejected calls for a name change. Fjuckby is saddled with the dual misfortune of containing both the rude Swedish word 'juck' and its more internationally recognisable English equivalent.