OT: Orcmido-san

["Dennis E. Hamilton" <de...@acm.org>]

Thank you for the wonderful lesson about -san

I answer to Dennis.  One friend speaks of me as Orcmid on Facebook and Flickr.  I think people addressed me as Hamilton when I was a student; now not so much.  Customs change.  When children call me "Mr. Hamilton" I know their parents want them to be respectful, but it sounds strange to me!  For the young relatives in my family, I am "Uncle Dennis" it seems.  When I was a youngster, I was called "Denny" in my family, and relatives still use that.  I hardly notice, but when someone else uses it, I am surprised.

インフォヌーボ
デニス Ｅ. ハミルトン

was provided to me by one of my friends in Japan, Mitsuru AKIZAWA.  It was to use on a name card.

The "InfoNuovo" name is not used now.  When I moved to Seattle, that name was too close to the name of a company here.  So I chose "NuovoDoc" for a business name.  I don't know the calligraphy for it.

"E." is my middle initial.  It is pronounced "Ee" but it is not used to address me.  The middle name is "Eugene." If you addressed me by it, I might not know who you were speaking to.  If someone said "Dennis Eugene!" I might know I was in trouble with my mother, but I don't think she ever said it like that :).

Orcmid is perhaps too hard in Japanese.  I have heard it pronounced Orcmido in Japan.  

The "Orc" is as in "orchid."  The "mid" is as in "middle."  I think orcmid-san is a little harsh to the ear for both of us?

The name is made up.  It is for a fantasy space alien.  I made it up when I first played Dec Wars on a PDP-10 around 1980.  I have a hand-painted T-shirt with an image of orcmid on it.  Eventually, I will convert that to a digital image.

If I were to attempt to pronounce Khirano, I would have the "h" be silent, with the Khi- as in kick.
(If I was Italian or maybe elsewhere in Europe, someone might say Kee- as in keen.)  Then -rano as ran+oh.  

Do either of those sound pleasant to you and not make unpleasant word?

Regards,

 - Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Kazunari Hirano [mailto:khirano@gmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, June 18, 2011 18:20
To: ooo-dev@incubator.apache.org; dennis.hamilton@acm.org
Subject: Re: Native Language vs l10n

[ ... ]

[OT] === Japanese "-san" usage ===

"-san" is written "さん" in Japanese Hiragana.
If you read Japanese emails, you will see "さん" in almost every mail.

"-san" is very useful postfix to a name in Japanese society, in
Japanese communication, among or between Japanese persons.

You can show politeness, friendship and respect to a person you are
talking to by calling his/her name with "-san."

In Japan when you meet someone for the first time, it is "safe" to
call him/her "Last name + san." And you can keep using it all the time
when you talk to him/her.  You also can use "-san" the same way in
business communication.
"Last name + san" is very useful in Japan.

Suppose I meet for the first time a Japanese whose last name is
"Fujisawa" and first name is "Shuhei."
My last name is "Hirano" and my first name is "Kazunari."
When I introduce myself to him, I say "I am Hirano Kazunari."
I don't say "I am Kazunari Hirano."
He may introduce himself "I am Fujisawa Shuhei."
Then I may say "Nice to see you, Fujisawa Shuhei san, where are you from?"
You see, "-san" is a very flexible postfix.
My neighbors call me, "Hirano-san."
If they call me, "Hirano Kazunari san" or "Kazunari san," it's ok, no
problem, I am fine with it.
My mother calls me "Kazunari!"
I say "Yes, Mom! I'll be right over there very quick!"
:)
My aunts call me "Kaz."
My old friends call me "Nari."
My friends from school call me "Hirano."

"Khirano" is my nickname/UserID/account name for Internet, email or
online community world like here.

It's OK that you call me "Hi Khirano" or "Hi Khirano san" in "writing."
But in real-life conversation it may be difficult to pronounce "Khirano."
Even me don't know how to pronounce "Khirano."
:)
Can you pronounce "orcmid," Dennis san?
I find your id and full name here.
http://people.apache.org/committer-index.html
orcmid, Dennis E. Hamilton.

I may write emails to you starting with:
"Hi orcmid san"
"Hi Dennis san"
"Hi E. san"
"HI Hamilton san"
:)
But you see, "orcmid" doesn't sound to me, I think, or does it sound?
How about "E.", does it sound, "ee period"?
:)
"Dennis san" and "Hamilton san" sound good, don't they?
:)
I thought I can call you in writing "Hi Dennis" since we are working
together in this incubator project and getting to know each other, and
we can be frank.

If I meet you somewhere on the earth, I greet you "Hi Dennis," is it OK?
:)
Thanks,
khirano