On Cats and Butterflies?

[samedi]

Near the start of last week Gord Sellar wrote a post of a few questions that had come to mind recently. While I was unable to offer any help involving shower practices in Korea, the questions concerning cats and cat-naming habits in Joseon-era Korea (1392-1910) were not only very interesting but also an area where I felt like I could add to the

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[notte0]

My "expertise" is dogs, not cats, so along the lines of "common names" I have a few to share. (although not quite related to your post... heehee... random person is random)

Dogs in Hong Kong/Macau
- if they have an English name, it's mostly "Bobby" or "Bobo". Probably because "Bobo" sounds like 寶寶 (precious?)
- if they have a Chinese name, it's 黄財 (Yellow(gold) Fortune, or it actually means "Attracting Fortune"). alternatively 2 dogs together can have separate names like 啊黄 and 啊財 to pair up the 黄財

In Japan many dogs are called "Pocchi", or, at least, popular in TV shows, dramas, etc... In Chinese that always get translated to "marbles" but I have yet to find out if that's the actual meaning in Japanese.

As I write this, I have no idea what the "common" dog name for the Portuguese is!! oh no!!

/edited - I should do better than that! sorry, typos!

[samedi]

Thanks for the list, Kata. So for the Cantonese singer Bobo Chan ... was her name chosen because of the connection to 寶寶 / precious as well?

Glad you found my comments helpful!

[anonymous]

I was so glad you mentioned the paintings on Gord's website, or I wouldn't have thought about them in that context at all. As usual, a wonderful job of doing research has made your site a pleasure to read^^
-Gomushin Girl

[samedi]

Korean art history is a subject that I'd like to learn more about, so it was great to see you mention 변상벽, as that gives me another artist's works to seek out. Also, I highly enjoy reading your thoughtful contributions on other websites; to have you compliment my own blog is a great honor. ^^

[ghostcloud]

A google search on "Why are cats named Nabi?" led me here. Sorry if this feels random.

I still don't quite get the connection from butterfly to cat. Maybe because when my uncle's mother-in-law got a new cat, he suggested naming it Nabi, after a story about a cat that my grandma told my uncle. So I've been trying to find a tale of a cat named Nabi.

But your research has shed more light on this puzzling issue.

Maybe I should try asking my dad...

[samedi]

I don't know if there's a particular tale that's associated with the name - none turned up when I originally did a search on the subject - but the naming convention has to do with how the Korean words are homophones with special terms in Chinese:

'Butterfly' (나비; nabi) is similar to the word for '80 years old' and 'cat' (고양이; goyangi) is similar to the word for '70 years old' -- so giving someone a cat named Nabi is akin to offering a wish (or expressing a desire) that they live to be 70 or 80 years old. It was much less common to see people reach that age 500 or 600 years ago than it is today, hence the extra folk belief in giving a little extra 'help'.

Let me know if you do find out anything more from your family members.

[helenajole]

My daughter has a Beanie Baby cat that we named 나비.

[samedi]

Interesting. If you don't mind me asking, how did you come upon the name?

(Also, hello from a former Puget Sound resident!)

[helenajole]

I spent a total of two-and-half years in Korea over three different trips, the last being twelve years ago. (Still can't believe it's been that long....)

[samedi]

I hope this is a case of "time flies when you're having fun". Do you have any plans to visit again in the future?