0094 @ Boy

Chinese custom in general warns against expressing affection for a child for fear of tempting a vengeful devil to steal him away. A couple here in Beijing broke free of the bonds of this convention when they tried to name their baby @: you know like in email addresses. That symbol over the “2” on your keyboard. The parents say this reflects how much they care for the child. How? Well, the Chinese use the English word “at” to pronounce this symbol and they say it with an aspirated “t”. “tah”. This makes it sound something like “ai ta” which means “love him” in Mandarin. If the government accepts this – and the devil doesn’t spirit the boy away -- it will make for a unique email address in the future: @@gmail.com, perhaps. #ceas #china #hacker #tsutsui