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Egyptian Father Names His Daughter "Facebook" 162

Posted by samzenpus from the what's-in-a-name? dept.
An anonymous reader writes "An Egyptian man has decided to show his appreciation towards Facebook for its role during the revolution in his country by naming his firstborn daughter Facebook. From the article: 'Egyptian dictator Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak was in power from 1981 until February 11, 2011, when he resigned after 18 days of protests. Facebook has been credited for helping organize regime-ending protests in the country. Although the Egyptian revolution saw some planning done via Twitter, direct text messages, and other forms of electronic communication, Facebook has come to symbolize all the forms of social media that people used to organize the revolutions in the Middle East.'"
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Egyptian Father Names His Daughter "Facebook" More

Egyptian Father Names His Daughter "Facebook"

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  • but...... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @10:26AM (#35279546)

    In Egyptian, Facebook means Precious Little Poop Machine.

    • Re:but...... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Dunbal ( 464142 ) * on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @11:03AM (#35280010)
      Funny, that's what it means in English, too.

    • FYI, they speak Arabic in Egypt.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Actually no, they speak "Egyptian Arabic", or "Egyptian" for short, a dialect that is very different from "Literary Arabic"

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

          Actually no, they speak "Egyptian Arabic", or "Egyptian" for short, a dialect that is very different from "Literary Arabic"

          So, do you also differentiate between English, American English, and Australian English? How about South African English, or Indian English? They are very different, but they are still the same language.

          They might speak a dialect that is very different than the Maghreb or Levant or Gulf dialects, but it is still Arabic. The literary Arabic or "Fus'ha" would be easily intelligible to those that understand colloquial Egyptian, as that is the standard form of Arabic most commonly found in writing. With a

          • So, do you also differentiate between English, American English, and Australian English? How about South African English, or Indian English? They are very different, but they are still the same language.

            How 'bout Scots English, or Jamacian Creole? There are no universally accepted criteria for what distinguishes a language and a dialect. There are Chinese dialects that differ more from each other than Italian does from Spanish. I is my personal opinion that this argument is basically argumentum ad populum.

          • actually you would need to specify which "English" you are referring to since there is at least the big break of US and UK spellings not to mention that different words are used for some things. even if you limit yourself to UK subdialects i think right now NOBODY actually speaks "Anglo-Saxon" without some tweaks due to foreign influence and other effects.

  • I guess the newly perceived freedoms (Score:3)

    by Manfre ( 631065 ) on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @10:29AM (#35279580) Homepage Journal

    I guess high on the newly perceived freedoms the father wanted to make sure his daughter will be able to experience some of the hardships he faced throughout his life.

  • Nice (Score:5, Funny)

    by grub ( 11606 ) <slashdot@grub.net> on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @10:31AM (#35279602) Homepage Journal

    Goatse and Tubgirl changed my life, but I won't be naming offspring after them.

    • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

      by dmmiller2k ( 414630 )
      If you're into Goatse and Tubgirl, you may not have to worry about naming any offspring.

      • Re: (Score:1, Offtopic)

        by alta ( 1263 )

        can someone describe tubgirl with as little detail, and certainly no link please.

        No need to describe goatse...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by syousef ( 465911 )

      Goatse and Tubgirl changed my life, but I won't be naming offspring after them.

      But Goatse Tubgirl Grub has such a lovely ring to it!

  • lol (Score:1)

    by XPeter ( 1429763 )

    lol.

  • I guess if the dominate language isn't English, she won't be teased that much. Still I can think of some pretty terrible jokes.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Shark ( 78448 )

      Well, assuming she's just born, chances are Facebook will go belly up before she's 10.

  • The real question (Score:3)

    by Drakkenmensch ( 1255800 ) on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @10:35AM (#35279656)
    Will she accept my friend request?
  • Someone tell New York Times Johnson he ain't trending no more.
  • a lawsuit.

  • Huh? (Score:5, Funny)

    by slart42 ( 694765 ) on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @10:38AM (#35279690)

    Facebook has been credited for helping organize regime-ending protests in the country.

    How could she have helped organize protests when she has just been born?

  • I suppose there's few reasons better to name your daughter Facebook.

  • for the stupidity of the adults.

  • Account Creation Request DENIED (Score:5, Funny)

    by jpapon ( 1877296 ) on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @10:40AM (#35279722) Journal
    Ironically, little Facebook was never able to sign up for an account due to the website's automatic filters.

    This had the unfortunate effect of further handicapping her already struggling social life

  • Strange names aren't always bad (Score:3)

    by dkleinsc ( 563838 ) on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @10:40AM (#35279726) Homepage

    Just ask Dweezil or Moon Unit Zappa.

    • You can also pronounce your name however you want. "My name is Elizabeth. Spelled F - A - C - E - B - O - O K. Yes, Elizabeth. "

  • Can you imagine if your 8 year old was named Myspace?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by grub ( 11606 )

      or a 3 year old named Zune. I guess that's not as bad as a 30 year old named TRS-80.

      • or a 3 year old named Zune. I guess that's not as bad as a 30 year old named TRS-80.

        or little PS3

  • Zuckerberg et al (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Apple Acolyte ( 517892 ) on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @10:52AM (#35279870)
    I wonder if this father and other Egyptians who used Facebook in their revolt know that Zuckerberg and many of the other founders of the service are Jews. Or that the Intel processors they use to access the site are designed by Jews in the Jewish state of Israel.

    For those of you who don't know, when female reporter Lara Logan was attacked and sexually molested by an Egyptian mob, the attackers were shouting at "Jew, Jew, Jew!" at her. She isn't even Jewish, but there's a pathological hatred for Jews in much of the Middle East.
    • To be fair if your ancestors had been struck with the Plagues of Egypt [wikipedia.org] just because they refused to give up their slaves you might be a tad annoyed as well.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by eln ( 21727 )
        It wasn't just because they wouldn't let their slaves go, it was because they wouldn't give up all their gods and worship the God of Israel. Throughout that section of Exodus, God "hardens the heart" of Pharaoh repeatedly specifically so Pharaoh wouldn't give up so easily and God could therefore plague them some more. The idea, apparently, was to try to convince the Egyptians of his (God's) power so they would worship him. Since they still didn't end up worshiping him after all that, God told his people
        • I believe it states that Pharaoh first hardens his own heart. After about the 5th plague, it talks about God hardening his heart.
      • No evidence has ever been found that any tribes of Israel were ever enslaved by Egyptians. The Jews are descended from the Canaanites that always lived in the area around Israel. They are closely related to the Palestinians. Unfortunately, that whole "Exodus" story appears to be entirely fictional. On the other hand, the tribe in East Africa claiming to be one of the lost tribes of Israel has been proven by DNA analysis to actually be descended from the original Jews.
      • I probably should have added "Assuming for a moment that the bible isn't a work of fiction" and "I never read the story, I just heard bits and pieces on the rare occasions I listened."

    • Ehm (Score:5, Insightful)

      by SmallFurryCreature ( 593017 ) on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @11:17AM (#35280184) Journal

      Egypt is a popular holiday destination for Israeli's. Remember that haters will always exist but most normal people are normal people. If Germans can visit Israel, Japanese can visit Korea/China, Americans can visit pretty much anywhere, Canadians can visit the US, Belgians can visit Holland etc etc then Jews can visit Egypt.

      The real feelings in the middle east are far more complex then fits in a Fox news flash. In fact it is YOU that cares what religion a founder of a website is or even what the religion might be of a guy who worked on a cpu. YOU noticed this, not some random Egyptian whose own believes ain't even known.

      Those protests you might have seen burning American/Israeli flags? Well, we know now what they really were. Staged protests not supported by the masses. We SAW what happened when the masses think something and gosh, no signs of hatred for the Zionists or the great Satan but for their own corrupt MUSLIM leaders.

      Al Queda failed. They tried to install hatred and accomplished nothing. Peaceful protests without hate for other races/religions changed the region in a matter of weeks.

      Do you judge the US by the KKK?

      • Re:Ehm (Score:4, Informative)

        by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @01:33PM (#35281932)

        Do you judge the US by the KKK?

        I'm pretty sure 98% of Americans don't agree with the ideals of the KKK. If Pew is to be believed [pewglobal.org], Egyptians do tend to take a rather harsher view.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by EdIII ( 1114411 )

        Canadians can visit the US

        In the context of your post that would seem to indicate that there is some bad blood between Canada and the US. What on Earth for?

        Sure they speak weird, and keep using those two words "hoser" and "eh" all over the damn place. However, those lovely bastards have strong beer, Tim Hortons, and hockey. They're alright with me.

        Not to mention they also gave us Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis). Shit... that alone almost makes them blood brothers in my book. "Nobody gives me the Raspberry".

  • It'll probably come out as Razeel Cassid Fassbuk el Dar-min or something. She'll be fine.

  • From another perspective (Score:3)

    by GodfatherofSoul ( 174979 ) on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @10:57AM (#35279940)

    The name Facebook probably sounds a bit exotic and interesting to a foreign tongue. We English speakers do the same thing with foreign words as names; especially using foreign cities. Now, imagine meeting a German kid named Chicago or Macho. Probably the same to a European meeting an American girl named Paris or Allegra.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      To be honest, to us Europeans, one of the weirdest things about Paris Hilton is that she has a boys name...

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_%28mythology%29

    • I see a lot of similar responses I'd like to address. My point isn't that Americans NEVER use city names for children. It's that people often use words and names from other cultures based on phonetic (maybe even a literal translation) appeal. Sometimes, those names might not make much sense to use for children for native speakers or might just sound awkward.

  • I won't feel so bad... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    when I have 2 daughters, naming the oldest "One" and the youngest "Cup". Cause I'm anonymous and that's what I do!

  • Not that bad (Score:3)

    by should_be_linear ( 779431 ) on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @11:04AM (#35280028)
    Thank god they didn't use Yahoo! to organize themselves.
  • Now all the other kids are making fun of me!

  • When he realizes his error... (Score:3)

    by x0 ( 32926 ) on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @11:13AM (#35280136) Homepage
    When he realizes his error, will he name is newborn son 'Facepalm'?

    m
  • I'm going to name my firstborn filtydirtybackdoorsluts.com for all the help it gave me through my single years!

  • Incoming lawsuit (Score:3)

    by space_jake ( 687452 ) on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @11:25AM (#35280312)
    Facebook is still suing anything with "book" in its name right?
  • Yahoo and MicroSoft are considered has beens. Another Slashdot thread today questions if Google is that category. I wonder would it would like to like t be entering engineering school 20 years in future and be called FORTRAN or AOL.

  • I think that, all things considered, such an arrangement is preferable to having sons named "Kalash" (from Avtomat Kalashnikova), which is a common practice in some African countries.

  • no complaints when she starts getting poked...
  • Didn't someone in America try to name their kid ESPN (pronounced ehs-pin) and get sued over it, or was that just a rumor?

  • He didn't name her Porsche or Houston.

  • A: Hey, I heard you Facebooked Facebook.
    B: Yeah, I did. I looked at Facebook's Facebook and sure enough Facebook says her name is Facebook.
    A: Haha. I wonder if she has a brother named Twitter.
    B: What's Twitter?

  • Way to get your kid beaten up at school on a regular basis....

  • Abdul: "Yow Mohad, why are you crying?" Mohad:"Ah Abdul, I had this girl, for over 9000 days. She left me. Gone... vanished. Noone heared of her since months". Abdul" Aye mate, that sucks sandstorms. What's her name, I will keep an eye out?" Mohad "facebook" Abdul: *palm/face, gives business-card of lawyer, assuming he bought stocks.*

  • I'm sure Mark Zuckerberg is proud that someone named their baby after his.

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