tell u in a hongkongish way

the english names of the local stores and companies are often in transliteration. english words in those name don't mean what they should, just the pronunciations matter to them. like "fat" doesn't mean their business has anything to do with selling fat, i mean, may be they do but, in this case, not what the business or the chinese character itself suppose to mean. and for the word "fat" again, it means wealth and prosperity which makes it a very popular character for commercial names.

each chinese character has its own meanings, when two or more of these cling together forming vocabularies or phrases, their meanings differ and a lot richer. like "fat" again, when group with "fuk" (fat fuk) means gaining weight, and fat here is the verb, fuk is a noun. i find it interesting for shop names or even given names for ourselves, they literally dont follow this "vocabulary rule". names always come in 2 to 3 characters, when reading the phrase, all the characters are apprehensible but when they come together it doesn't add up to a phrase, like corn starch in water, they seem to mix but they actually not. then what are they? they are 2 to 3 different wishes or expectations from the shop owner or our parents, names are the sum of blessings and love and desires. common characters for commercial names always link to good fortune, profit, grandness, excellency. for neutral choices there are reputation, swiftness, loyalty, trustworthiness. are we repressive? not in this aspect.

transliteration is an art, while chinese literature is powerfully poetic, when the two to fuse together it forms really beautiful pieces. Firenze is a delicate piece of radiant jade in cool mist, revlon is from a poem of a talented passionate writer. Kate Blanchett is a noble orchid white as snow. like any other art forms in this world, this one also changes its course to serve some purposes. in recent years, media of hong kong tend to orientate the way how mainland china media transliterate, giving up style of hongkong's own, which i think it is sad. among those new names, the one i consider irritating the most is the transliteration of Brisbane, sounds like Bris "livor mortis(in our language)".