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A comment on WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreign languages.

Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by mcorrand on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @12:21PM (#10117563)
"bite" is safe according to this tool. Any french speaker does a double take when they see that word though, especially in certain sentences.

For reference: https://askafrenchguy.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/petite-bites-...

Edit: Yes, I have submitted it to the database, it should get vetted eventually. A crowdsourced process for the vetting could be fun too!

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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by sandebert on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @03:15PM (#10118847)
And 7 Eleven in Sweden managed to make it even more dirty by using the headline "Bite sale!", which apparently means "Dirty dick!" in french. As if that wasn't bad enough, the ad was actually meant to sell sausages. To kids.

Reference: http://z.cdn-expressen.se/images/a3/9b/a39b426464844e3ba6ef3...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by mcorrand on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @03:38PM (#10118984)
"Oh thank heaven". This is so hilariously unfortunate. The funny part is that I really don't notice "bite" in this way if it's surrounded by English words. The tumblr blog listed downthread does nothing for me for example.

But if the surrounding words exist in French too, my brain invariably gets tricked into switching to French.

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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by Lawtonfogle on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @02:09PM (#10118437)
The mature side of me sees a great tool that will help to avoid unintended public image issues.

The immature side of me sees a great tool for picking immature names for online games that won't be flagged.

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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by twohearted on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @01:51PM (#10118310)
This was the first word I tried too. As a frenchman in the US I can't help but laugh every time I see "bite" used on a product. It's the most common slang for "dick" in french, everyone knows it. Juvenile, yes, but still hilarious. Examples: http://bitesubite.tumblr.com/archive
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by baby on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @12:23PM (#10117595)
"pipi" as well http://i.imgur.com/VcSKnTb.png
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by flurpitude on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @12:26PM (#10117622)
"zizi" too.
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by r0naa on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @07:19PM (#10120080)
"Kekette" as well
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by Qantourisc on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @01:35PM (#10118181)
In Dutch pipi is dialect for urination, often used when talking/referring to children.
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by bitwize on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @03:16PM (#10118854)
It's "peepee" in English but you are likely to get a chuckle if you name your product "pipi". Back in 2006 Nintendo ran into this problem with the Wii ("wee" or "weewee" is also slang for urination eapecially among children.)
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by danieltillett on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:19PM (#10119527)
I always thought this was deliberate. You are telling me no one in Nintendo knew what Wii would mean to kids?
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by krapp on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:26PM (#10119558)
What it means to foreign kids. It's not surprising that a Japanese company wouldn't have that fine a grasp on English nuance.
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by thisisnotatest on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:38PM (#10119615)
I thought they chose the name to fit their inclusive, inviting target with the console. "Wii Play Sports" -- yes we do!
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by _lce0 on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @01:56PM (#10118352)
In Spanish it's exactly the same.

I wonder were the roots of that is?

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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by yetihehe on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @02:29PM (#10118575)
In polish it's "psipsi" which is clearly an onomatopoeia.
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by jeorgun on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @02:05PM (#10118406)
Ditto in English, for that matter, although for various reasons we spell "i" with two "e"s.
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by DasIch on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @02:48PM (#10118689)
In German as well, though I guess that's not very surprising.
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by wildpeaks on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @12:40PM (#10117732)
"Verge" is similarily hilarious for french speakers
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by schoen on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @08:31PM (#10120328)
I remember a native French speaker was kind of disturbed by the sentence "où est ma chatte?", which is the sample French sentence Alice thinks of in Alice in Wonderland when she speculates that mice might speak French or Latin instead of English. (In the original story, it was disturbing to the mouse, too, though for a different reason!)

(Edit: this site's database recognizes "chatte" as a concern in French.)

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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by niklasni1 on Wednesday August 26, 2015 @03:41AM (#10121643)
I imagine "where is my pussy" would get a chuckle out of most anglophones today, too...
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by backtoyoujim on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @12:22PM (#10117580)
much less "bitenuker" which is highly offensive to those who speak either French or Dutch.
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by rgj on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @12:55PM (#10117860)
I'm Dutch and I know my offensive language. Never heard of that.
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by ruraljuror on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @03:47PM (#10119027)
A Franco-Dutchman would pronounce it bete-neuker:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqszqbd5cLg

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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by protonfish on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @01:34PM (#10118177)
It's a joke from 30 Rock.
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Re:WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreig... by strathmeyer on Tuesday August 25, 2015 @05:24PM (#10119549)
It's not searching for 'sounds like', it doesn't think 'fuc' or 'fuch' are bad words.
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