8 ms·

Italian here: in Italian "mezzano" means "pimp": a derogatory term for a man getting clients in touch with prostitutes. Anybody knows why they selected this na

by Pamar 10y ago

Italian here: in Italian "mezzano" means "pimp": a derogatory term for a man getting clients in touch with prostitutes. Anybody knows why they selected this name?

avodonosov 10y ago
As I remember, somebody brought up the Italian meaning, but they decided that's irrelevant
- coliveira 10y ago
  Funny and sad to see that the meaning in the ORIGINAL language was considered to be irrelevant... This shows the level of respect our culture has for others.
  - patrickg_zill 10y ago
    If it is also a geographical place name, though...
  - Pamar 10y ago
    I don't find it insulting (as an Italian), just odd. And even if they dismissed when found out it I am not outraged: it is hard to look for obscure terms in all languages to make sure you don't get bad associations in Sumerian or whatever. I just wanted to know what process (if any) they followed to pick that specific name.
  - avodonosov 10y ago
    Original? Why original, it's not. Just a coincidence. It's very often for brand names to collide with slang or even obscene word in some of the world languages.
    - coliveira 10y ago
      This is a word with no meaning in English, and which not only has an Italian meaning but also clearly looks like an Italian word. So why do you have a problem in understanding that Italian is the original language from where this word was taken from? What do you think if somebody in Italy named an international piece of software as "MotherFk" and said: who cares what this means in English... I guess you would be appalled by the lack of cultural concern.
      - avodonosov 10y ago
        One of the first links in google: http://www.oddee.com/item_93544.aspx http://www.oddee.com/item_93544.aspx The word is not taken from Italian, it was invented first, and then somebody said it collides with an Italian word. If they changed the name to avoid Italian clash they could collide with Swahili or some other of hundreds of the worlds languages.
agumonkey 10y ago
Surely "pimp" is a secondary meaning right ? isn't it from the same root as mezzanine ? (which I associated with meso- middle)
- varjag 10y ago
  It's also a place in Northern Italy.
  - Pamar 10y ago
    I somehow doubt they were actually looking at a map while looking for a name.
    - varjag 10y ago
      Its media player is also called Trentino, really hope it's not a monicker for prostitute.
- Pamar 10y ago
  As an article, yes: "Luigi è il figlio mezzano" would be parsed as "Luigi is the middle son". But "Luigi è un mezzano" would sound as "Luigi is a pimp". Keep in mind that this is a bit archaic anyway so I suppose that someone in their twenties would probably have to check a dictionary for it, but I am older than that so it looks a bit odd to me.
gkya 10y ago
Seems to be the second meaning: http://www.wordreference.com/definizione/mezzano http://www.wordreference.com/definizione/mezzano The first being "an intermediary".
thomastjeffery 10y ago
Naming is hard. I'm sure they care a whole lot more about the project than the name.

by Pamar 10y ago

Italian here: in Italian "mezzano" means "pimp": a derogatory term for a man getting clients in touch with prostitutes. Anybody knows why they selected this name?

avodonosov 10y ago

As I remember, somebody brought up the Italian meaning, but they decided that's irrelevant

coliveira 10y ago
Funny and sad to see that the meaning in the ORIGINAL language was considered to be irrelevant... This shows the level of respect our culture has for others.
- patrickg_zill 10y ago
  If it is also a geographical place name, though...
- Pamar 10y ago
  I don't find it insulting (as an Italian), just odd. And even if they dismissed when found out it I am not outraged: it is hard to look for obscure terms in all languages to make sure you don't get bad associations in Sumerian or whatever. I just wanted to know what process (if any) they followed to pick that specific name.
- avodonosov 10y ago
  Original? Why original, it's not. Just a coincidence. It's very often for brand names to collide with slang or even obscene word in some of the world languages.
  - coliveira 10y ago
    This is a word with no meaning in English, and which not only has an Italian meaning but also clearly looks like an Italian word. So why do you have a problem in understanding that Italian is the original language from where this word was taken from? What do you think if somebody in Italy named an international piece of software as "MotherFk" and said: who cares what this means in English... I guess you would be appalled by the lack of cultural concern.
    - avodonosov 10y ago
      One of the first links in google: http://www.oddee.com/item_93544.aspx http://www.oddee.com/item_93544.aspx The word is not taken from Italian, it was invented first, and then somebody said it collides with an Italian word. If they changed the name to avoid Italian clash they could collide with Swahili or some other of hundreds of the worlds languages.

agumonkey 10y ago

Surely "pimp" is a secondary meaning right ? isn't it from the same root as mezzanine ? (which I associated with meso- middle)

varjag 10y ago
It's also a place in Northern Italy.
- Pamar 10y ago
  I somehow doubt they were actually looking at a map while looking for a name.
  - varjag 10y ago
    Its media player is also called Trentino, really hope it's not a monicker for prostitute.
Pamar 10y ago
As an article, yes: "Luigi è il figlio mezzano" would be parsed as "Luigi is the middle son". But "Luigi è un mezzano" would sound as "Luigi is a pimp". Keep in mind that this is a bit archaic anyway so I suppose that someone in their twenties would probably have to check a dictionary for it, but I am older than that so it looks a bit odd to me.

gkya 10y ago

Seems to be the second meaning: http://www.wordreference.com/definizione/mezzano http://www.wordreference.com/definizione/mezzano The first being "an intermediary".

thomastjeffery 10y ago

Naming is hard. I'm sure they care a whole lot more about the project than the name.