Books

Books : reviews

Will C. Mooney.
Chinese Names for Oriental Dogs.
Denlinger. 1975

rating : 4 : passes the time
review : 29 August 2003

This is a very short book, listing suggestions for names for your oriental dog. In essence, it is a very short and highly specialised English-Chinese dictionary. It gives a brief overview of Chinese dogs, and of the Chinese language, including a great mnemonic for the four tones (level, rising, low, falling):

"Jim (addressing an individual), is this your dog (asking a question)?"
"Well (careful consideration), no (abrupt reply)."

The dictionary itself is also interesting, particularly in the names that capture relationships. For example, the English word "brother-in-law" (though why you would want to call a dog "brother-in-law" is not explained) is given ten different translations, on whether it refers to ones husband's brother, wife's brother, sister's husband, wife's sister's husband, or husband's sister's husband, and whether said sister or brother is younger or older than oneself!