Bluebird in Chinese Mandarin can be interpreted offensively

Bluebird in Chinese Mandarin is Lán zhī gēng niǎo

niǎo is pronounced in some dialects in a way which can be construed as penis, f**k or nonsense.

This means that we could be interpreted as the blue fucks or the blue penises.

No wonder Tan rebranded us and wants us to be called The Dragons.

No serious investor is going to see the club on the SE in Asia and invest if it contains such terminology. By having said words associated with the club you're already alienating many who may interpret it wrongly. Its a marketing own goal plus China is a pretty big market to be alienating and we already know they're very superstitious or strict when it comes to cultural ways and beliefs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_C ... anity#Bird

If Tan gets an investor on board or the money he needs through multiple investors will he change back? I believe he might. I believe the rebrand is nothing more than a marketing exercise to appeal to investors and get more money. Of course, being the blue penises doesn't really appeal to someone from that culture. Once the investors are on board and he has the money he can change us back to blue, make us all happy and he has won both ways. He's got investors on board by presenting a package that appeals to them and he has us on board from changing back.

At this point he will be idolised by many and have the money he needs to take the club forward. That's exactly what he wants.

only to the uneducated.

there is a football team called Deportivo Wanka i believe.


has nothing to do with our use of the word though.

only to the uneducated.

there is a football team called Deportivo Wanka i believe.


has nothing to do with our use of the word though.

Yes but they're not being floated in England are they? We're being floated in Asia on the SE so we need a brand that is appealing and cannot be construed to be offensive.

Also, you state uneducated which I think is wrong. People of all cultures have their ways and beliefs and ours is no more important or right than the culture of Asians or a Maori tribe on a remote island. Its just the way people are. Tan knows Chinese culture and he probably knows that offensive terminology or terminology that could be construed as offensive is not going to go down well with investors.

Bluebird in Chinese Mandarin is Lán zhī gēng niǎo

niǎo is pronounced in some dialects in a way which can be construed as penis, f**k or nonsense.

This means that we could be interpreted as the blue fucks or the blue penises.

No wonder Tan rebranded us and wants us to be called The Dragons.

No serious investor is going to see the club on the SE in Asia and invest if it contains such terminology. By having said words associated with the club you're already alienating many who may interpret it wrongly. Its a marketing own goal plus China is a pretty big market to be alienating and we already know they're very superstitious or strict when it comes to cultural ways and beliefs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_C ... anity#Bird

If Tan gets an investor on board or the money he needs through multiple investors will he change back? I believe he might. I believe the rebrand is nothing more than a marketing exercise to appeal to investors and get more money. Of course, being the blue penises doesn't really appeal to someone from that culture. Once the investors are on board and he has the money he can change us back to blue, make us all happy and he has won both ways. He's got investors on board by presenting a package that appeals to them and he has us on board from changing back.

At this point he will be idolised by many and have the money he needs to take the club forward. That's exactly what he wants.

hang on a minute....................TRANSLATED?..............who the f**k translates the names of teams?......

& I find his disregard of our traditions & identity as offensive too.

i know loads of people educated in welsh...........they call Arsenal...........Arsenal.........they call Chelsea Chelsea.....and say Bluebirds not aderglas

& I find his disregard of our traditions & identity as offensive too.

Thats fair enough. I do as well Barry. I just hope Im right and he changes us back once he gets his money after floating us.

meh.

i know nothing about mandarin... however

niǎo is pronounced in some dialects in a way which can be construed as penis, f**k or nonsense.

this is extrememly vague

if there was a football team that "roughly" translated as Bejing shitters it wouldnt offend me

meh.

i know nothing about mandarin... however

niǎo is pronounced in some dialects in a way which can be construed as penis, f**k or nonsense.

this is extrememly vague

if there was a football team that "roughly" translated as Bejing shitters it wouldnt offend me

You're not an investor though Paul.

Some common sense please.

Find me a company on the FTSE with a name that contains profanity. Go on. Investors won't touch them because of the marketing issues with them. o2 sexualised an advert before and got stick.

Changing brand image to suit cultures and new markets is common and done by many businesses. Both Red Bull and Disney have done it to crack the Asian market.

only to the uneducated.

there is a football team called Deportivo Wanka i believe.


has nothing to do with our use of the word though.

Yes but they're not being floated in England are they? We're being floated in Asia on the SE so we need a brand that is appealing and cannot be construed to be offensive.

Also, you state uneducated which I think is wrong. People of all cultures have their ways and beliefs and ours is no more important or right than the culture of Asians or a Maori tribe on a remote island. Its just the way people are. Tan knows Chinese culture and he probably knows that offensive terminology or terminology that could be construed as offensive is not going to go down well with investors.

meh.

i know nothing about mandarin... however

niǎo is pronounced in some dialects in a way which can be construed as penis, f**k or nonsense.

this is extrememly vague

if there was a football team that "roughly" translated as Bejing shitters it wouldnt offend me

You're not an investor though Paul.

Some common sense please.

Find me a company on the FTSE with a name that contains profanity. Go on. Investors won't touch them because of the marketing issues with them. o2 sexualised an advert before and got stick.

Changing brand image to suit cultures and new markets is common and done by many businesses. Both Red Bull and Disney have done it to crack the Asian market.

fair point, but still your point that "in some dialects the word is sometimes said in a way that resembles part of...... blah blah"

hope you see my point, its all a bit vauge isnt it.

fair point, but still your point that "in some dialects the word is sometimes said in a way that resembles part of...... blah blah"

hope you see my point, its all a bit vauge isnt it.

Not really. Theres a link provided for you in the OP. Its really not hard to work out that something that could be construed offensively in a language you wish to seek investment from is bad marketing.

You dont need a degree in marketing Paul to work that one out.

fair point, but still your point that "in some dialects the word is sometimes said in a way that resembles part of...... blah blah"

hope you see my point, its all a bit vauge isnt it.

Not really. Theres a link provided for you in the OP. Its really not hard to work out that something that could be construed offensively in a language you wish to seek investment from is bad marketing.

You dont need a degree in marketing Paul to work that one out.

ill throw mine in the bin then!

ARSEnal??

ARSEnal??

Thats part of a word. Good grief.

Hardly offensive either is it in comparison to the terms above or provided on the link, some of which I omitted out of choice as there not very nice terms.

meh.

i know nothing about mandarin... however

niǎo is pronounced in some dialects in a way which can be construed as penis, f**k or nonsense.

this is extrememly vague

if there was a football team that "roughly" translated as Bejing shitters it wouldnt offend me

Beijing Shitters
isn't there a blue film called that floating about???!!!

Surely our name would not be affected though? -Bluebirds is our nickname - Cardiff City is our name.

World Club Championship Semi finals

Flamengo (BRA) 2 v 3 Beijing Shitters (CHI)
Cardiff City (WAL) 0 v 0 Ah Ahly (EYG)

Tan can f**k right off if he honestly thinks he can get rid of the bluebirds!

The op is correct bluebird is very offensive in china.
Cardiff dragons is the logical next step for tan.I expect the little bluebird to be dropped from the badge next season.To Chinese people it's like having a picture of a penis on the badge.

Firstly, I don't care what it means in China.

Secondly, I don't believe that it means what it supposedly does. I think that's a myth..it's partly explained here:
http://goodcharacters.com/newsletters/0 ... ebird.html

Thirdly, and linked to the above, it's all about context. One of the most popular teams in the UK starts with the word Arse and has a manager whose name starts with Arse too. Look at Oldham (Old Ham), Tottenham (a shit insignificant borough in London with a cock on their shirt). Do we care that Ajax is a bog cleaner? Do we care that Young Boys Bern play at the Wankdorf? The word Yankee means something else here than in America..Does anyone really know or care what a '49'er is?

Fourthly...Tan hasn't changed the bluebird, he's changed the colour blue, so the whole argument is redundant anyway!

Firstly, I don't care what it means in China.

Secondly, I don't believe that it means what it supposedly does. I think that's a myth

Thirdly, and linked to the above, it's all about context. One of the most popular teams in the UK starts with the word Arse and has a manager whose name starts with Arse too. Look at Oldham (Old Ham), Tottenham (a shit insignificant borough in London with a cock on their shirt). Do we care that Ajax is a bog cleaner? Do we care that Young Boys Bern play at the Wankdorf? The word Yankee means something else here than in America..Does anyone really know or care what a '49'er is?

Fourthly...Tan hasn't changed the bluebird, he's changed the colour blue, so the whole argument is redundant anyway!

I didn't believe it at first but go an check for yourself the op is correct.
the bluebird was added at the last minute

Firstly, I don't care what it means in China.

Secondly, I don't believe that it means what it supposedly does. I think that's a myth

Thirdly, and linked to the above, it's all about context. One of the most popular teams in the UK starts with the word Arse and has a manager whose name starts with Arse too. Look at Oldham (Old Ham), Tottenham (a shit insignificant borough in London with a cock on their shirt). Do we care that Ajax is a bog cleaner? Do we care that Young Boys Bern play at the Wankdorf? The word Yankee means something else here than in America..Does anyone really know or care what a '49'er is?

Fourthly...Tan hasn't changed the bluebird, he's changed the colour blue, so the whole argument is redundant anyway!

I didn't believe it at first but go an check for yourself the op is correct.
the bluebird was added at the last minute

The link I provided said it is not an issue in Mandarin, but it does sound like a term for the penis in one of CHina's language, spoken in a small part of the country - Min Nan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Nan)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Nan

Firstly, I don't care what it means in China.

Ignorant. Firstly, you have to realise that Tan will care because the club is being floated. What you think has no bearing on what is actually happening at the club because you don't own it so leave the blunt tone at home.

Secondly, I don't believe that it means what it supposedly does. I think that's a myth..it's partly explained here:
http://goodcharacters.com/newsletters/0 ... ebird.html

Believe what you want. I know its the case. The Wikipedia page states it and you can find further research on it as well. It can be interpreted offensively.

Thirdly, and linked to the above, it's all about context. One of the most popular teams in the UK starts with the word Arse and has a manager whose name starts with Arse too. Look at Oldham (Old Ham), Tottenham (a shit insignificant borough in London with a cock on their shirt). Do we care that Ajax is a bog cleaner? Do we care that Young Boys Bern play at the Wankdorf? The word Yankee means something else here than in America..Does anyone really know or care what a '49'er is?

None of them are offensive when converted to Chinese are they? Whats Arsenal in Chinese? Whats Oldham in Chinese? Whats Tottenham in Chinese? We don't care no. They might. Again you're being ignorant of quite obvious cultural differences between us and Asians. Tan will care because thats where he wants investment from. Again, none of the examples given, when converted to an Asian language, convert to something that can be construed offensively. We have rebranded to cater to a market we wish to seek investment from. Simple really.

Fourthly...Tan hasn't changed the bluebird, he's changed the colour blue, so the whole argument is redundant anyway!

Do you even follow the going ons at the club? The bluebird was initially omitted but added back as some sort of compromise. Tan didn't originally want the bluebird on the badge and its quite obvious he wants us called the dragons hence his language and speeches etc.

Save your ignorant rants and bile for someone who's dumb enough to put up with it. Im not. Do some research on the topic yourself like others have done and you might just educate yourself.

http://goodcharacters.com/newsletters/0 ... ebird.html

Nissan's Bluebird (sedan) is translated as Lan-Niao in Chinese. In Mandarin, lan means blue and niao means bird-no problem. However, the reading of the characters for lan niao in the Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese) is lan jiao, which also sounds like the word for male genitals. It's rather complicated, but although blue in Minnan is lan and bird is jiao, the term lan jiao is bad, to put it mildly.

Why is this being brought up again?

Why is this being brought up again?

I don't know but got any more t-shirts mate?

Bluebird in Chinese Mandarin is Lán zhī gēng niǎo

niǎo is pronounced in some dialects in a way which can be construed as penis, f**k or nonsense.

This means that we could be interpreted as the blue fucks or the blue penises.

No wonder Tan rebranded us and wants us to be called The Dragons.

No serious investor is going to see the club on the SE in Asia and invest if it contains such terminology. By having said words associated with the club you're already alienating many who may interpret it wrongly. Its a marketing own goal plus China is a pretty big market to be alienating and we already know they're very superstitious or strict when it comes to cultural ways and beliefs.


http://www.carnewschina.com/2012/08/28/ ... -in-china/
If Tan gets an investor on board or the money he needs through multiple investors will he change back? I believe he might. I believe the rebrand is nothing more than a marketing exercise to appeal to investors and get more money. Of course, being the blue penises doesn't really appeal to someone from that culture. Once the investors are on board and he has the money he can change us back to blue, make us all happy and he has won both ways. He's got investors on board by presenting a package that appeals to them and he has us on board from changing back.

At this point he will be idolised by many and have the money he needs to take the club forward. That's exactly what he wants.

Does not stop Nissan from selling Bluebird cars in China.
http://www.carnewschina.com/2012/08/28/ ... -in-china/

Does not stop Nissan from selling Bluebird cars in China.
http://www.carnewschina.com/2012/08/28/ ... -in-china/

Already mentioned Nissan.

http://goodcharacters.com/newsletters/0 ... ebird.html

Nissan's Bluebird (sedan) is translated as Lan-Niao in Chinese. In Mandarin, lan means blue and niao means bird-no problem. However, the reading of the characters for lan niao in the Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese) is lan jiao, which also sounds like the word for male genitals. It's rather complicated, but although blue in Minnan is lan and bird is jiao, the term lan jiao is bad, to put it mildly.

Bluebird in Chinese Mandarin is Lán zhī gēng niǎo

niǎo is pronounced in some dialects in a way which can be construed as penis, f**k or nonsense.

This means that we could be interpreted as the blue fucks or the blue penises.

No wonder Tan rebranded us and wants us to be called The Dragons.

No serious investor is going to see the club on the SE in Asia and invest if it contains such terminology. By having said words associated with the club you're already alienating many who may interpret it wrongly. Its a marketing own goal plus China is a pretty big market to be alienating and we already know they're very superstitious or strict when it comes to cultural ways and beliefs.

http://jackyan.com/blog/2012/12/fifty-t ... to-an-end/
http://www.carnewschina.com/2012/08/28/ ... -in-china/
If Tan gets an investor on board or the money he needs through multiple investors will he change back? I believe he might. I believe the rebrand is nothing more than a marketing exercise to appeal to investors and get more money. Of course, being the blue penises doesn't really appeal to someone from that culture. Once the investors are on board and he has the money he can change us back to blue, make us all happy and he has won both ways. He's got investors on board by presenting a package that appeals to them and he has us on board from changing back.

At this point he will be idolised by many and have the money he needs to take the club forward. That's exactly what he wants.

Does not stop Nissan from selling Bluebird cars in China.
http://jackyan.com/blog/2012/12/fifty-t ... to-an-end/
http://www.carnewschina.com/2012/08/28/ ... -in-china/

If anybody is still having any doubts that the bluebird can be considered rude in regions of China:

http://goodcharacters.com/newsletters/0 ... ebird.html