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| Naming Conventions: It's time to name names. |
by kissingfish |
2006-08-03 16:03:40 |
There's an Aussie-themed pub at the end of my London road called The Slug and Lettuce. As an Australian, I am not entir
ely sure what that has to do with Australia. While I freely admit that I have seen both slugs AND lettuce in the land D
own Under, I wouldn't instantly associate them with the country of my birth.
They're not on our coat of arms or our currency. We have no national sporting teams named "The Slugs" or "The Lettuces"
. In fact, to see a slug dine on a leafy salad gives me no sense of nationalistic fervour at all. I'm sure the pub's na
me came from before a time when to be known as an Australian pub was a lucrative thing. In fact, I'm pretty sure it cam
e from a time before there was even an Australia. It came from a period of English history when the fashionable way to
name a pub was to throw together two nouns with an 'and' in the middle.
Sometimes it made sense, like The Slug and Lettuce, and sometimes it didn't, like the Frog and Bucket, which is across
the road.
Sometimes it's just downright ridiculous, like the Elephant and Wheelbarrow or the Prince and Badger (soon to be renamed "the pub formerly known as the Prince and Badger"). Either way, there exists a curious convention that I wholehearted
ly support, because it is genuinely hilarious and more creative than just naming a pub after the suburb where it is bui
lt.
It is a similar practice to naming suburban Chinese restaurants. There a ppears to be a central body that approves rest
aurant names. When you want to open one, you are sent two books. Like the Yellow Pagers A-K and the Yellow pages L-Z. H
owever, in this restaurant naming combo, book one is a list of approved adjectives and book two is a list of approved n
ouns. Section one of approved adjectives is a list of suitable colours. Favorites include Jade, Golden or Red. Section
two is a list of less tangible adjectives such as lucky, mighty, wise and happy. Approved nouns in volume two include B
uddha, Fortune, Hut, Dragon and Boat.
As a result we have such sanctioned restaurants as the Jade Dragon, Golden Hut and Lucky Buddha. The Chinaman's Hat in
Sorrento is an anomaly. I have a feeling only one of the naming books arrived and they had to make do with just nouns.
While the food is of very high standard, the name is a little clumsy and not a little racist.
Thai restaurants, on the other hand, have two simple rules: 1) The world Thai has to be in the title; b) the title has
to be a pun so painful that it makes you weep. Hence Thai-riffic and Thai-tanic. Rule one appears to operate entirely t
o ensure that people know that it serves Thai food and there can be no mistake. I think that rule two is unfortunate be
cause it prevents some wonderful dining possibilities. Such as the Australian/Thai fusion restaurant Thai-Me-Kangaroo-D
own-Sport or the medieval bondage dungeon and buffet Thai-Me-Up-Thai-Me-Down.
With the rise of fusion restaurants, I call for a name fusion to go with it. If we are going to have pubs serving salad
swith Eastern ingredients and influence, let's see some names like Golden Bow-Thai Slug and Bucket or Buddha's Jade Ele
phant All-Thai'd Up.
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