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submitted 4 days ago by may_be@thelemmy.club to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

I call him Steve online and I go by Larry.

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[-] Sunsofold@lemmings.world 4 points 3 days ago

I've had this discussion before. Names are not translated. Adam is a Hebrew name meaning 'man' but if your Hebrew friend comes to an english-speaking country, you don't say this is my friend Man. If your name is Bob and you go to Japan, they might call you バブ but that would still be calling you Bob, just with an accent. If you then started saying you were Bahboo as an imitation of their accent, you're not translating to be better understood. You're just mocking them. You don't have a Toki Pona accent, so you are imagining a foreigner with an accent and then mocking them, which is less offensive than mocking a real person, but still a weird thing to do.

[-] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 1 points 2 days ago

Tomi pona has this tule stating that names should be written and pronounced the toki pona way. Like, giving a toki pona accent to everyone so that no confusion arises

[-] Sunsofold@lemmings.world 0 points 2 days ago

No confusion will arise from calling people by their expected names. Confusion could easily arise from calling people by an interpretation of their expected name. Same goes for offense. Regardless of the intent of the original rule, we're all better off without it.

[-] dessalines@lemmy.ml 12 points 4 days ago
[-] Phlimy@jlai.lu 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I'd probably say "siwe" from the pronunciation

or sitiwe, or tiwe...

[-] kubofhromoslav@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

jan Siwe, jan Lawi.

[-] dessalines@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 days ago

Agree, siwe is probably closer.

[-] venusaur@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

You speak toki pona or you looked it up?

[-] dessalines@lemmy.ml 6 points 4 days ago

mi sona e toki pona, taso tenpo mute la mi toki ala e ni.

i know it, but haven't spoken it for a long time.

[-] kubofhromoslav@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

ali li pali e sama 🤣

[-] mobiuscoffee@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 days ago

a a a ni li pilin pona mute tawa mi

[-] venusaur@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

That’s crazy. I was thinking with such a relatively small community nobody would actually speak it, but I guess of all communities Lemmy would have somebody who does.

this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2025
23 points (87.1% liked)

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