My ESL MIL refers to my baby's face while cooing as her "O-face" and I just can't

[skaterboy1319]

It's so hard not to laugh and it's simultaneously mortifying. Do I ask my wife to explain to her what that means or leave it be?

 

[macnamara]

@skaterboy1319 Let her run it out till someone else tells her. It’ll be more humerus that way

 

[vincenthchough]

@macnamara Intentional dad joke or autocorrect?

 

[macnamara]

@vincenthchough I’m gonna go with 50/50 on that one

 

[roxy%E2%80%99smom]

@macnamara Google/Siri knows everything, and whether you're trying to make a dad joke. And that you need to buy a Miter saw.

 

[lyolagrace93]

@macnamara That was very punny. It tickled my funny bone.

 

[jmc66]

@skaterboy1319 Similar issue with my own MIL but not involving my kids… she just got her green card and picked an English name. She wanted it similar to her Chinese name so she tried to spell it out phonetically. Her Chinese name is pronounced “JOO-ON” so her English name is “Juan.” I opted to tell my wife to tell her and she can do what she wants with the information. Btw this is all after the fact… she had been using the name for some months until she added me to her WhatsApp and I was confused because I didn’t know a “Juan.”

 

[parkerscott]

@jmc66 Was "June" an option? It seems like that is much closer to the original.

 

[jmc66]

@parkerscott Certainly it was an option… she could have picked anything including the actual romanization of the name… Zhu An… or even something entirely different like Rachel. But it was just awkward to have to explain the more common pronunciation and usage of “Juan.”

 

[parkerscott]

@jmc66 What did she say after you told her? Still fun!

 

[jmc66]

@parkerscott I had my wife tell her… I dunno what the response was but I think she changed it… but it was already too late for some things like bills and things the already registered for.

 

[katrina2017]

@jmc66 I mean she can just hyphen it, ju-an i doubt anyone will kick up a fuss with that vs her new documents.

 

[thotr]

@jmc66 This information is actually quite helpful for me. I showed up to a work meeting expecting to be talking to a Mexican man named Juan. It turned out to be an Asian woman. Until I hear the official pronunciation from her I’ll use your pronunciation with coworkers.

 

[chrisfromcuba]

@jmc66 Lmfao I’m crying right now. Amazing.

 

[jamoke2014]

@jmc66 Reminds me of a guy I knew from overseas who picked an Americanized name and went with Johnson John. Yes, first name Johnson. He had no clue it was odd. I feel like people moving to another country need a crash course on how to give themselves a name that fits in if it's totally different from their given name, or spelling tips if spelling their given name in a different language character set.

 

[jmc66]

@jamoke2014 Actually my best friend is named Johnson! Yes… I imagine he got a lot of grief for it when he was a kid but have to say the ladies loved it by the time we got to college. Anyway, I asked him once where the name came from and it’s because his dad’s name is John.

 

[graemewagh]

@jmc66 I have seen that exact thing before, it’s not that uncommon. She will just have to constantly correct people with the pronunciation.

 

[crf]

@jmc66 she can go by Juana or Juanita which are the female version of those names in Spanish. or Juanis.

 

[faithinhim777]

@skaterboy1319 English is my MILs first language. In fact she taught English for many years. She loves hummingbirds and despite playful ridicule from everyone she insists on calling them "hummers".

 

[jetson]

@faithinhim777 Well, now I insist on calling them that too.