Oddities of Language: Chinese and English

I discovered something very strange today that, alone, might explain the low birth rate in China, if only they were better educated in English.

There is a phrase in Chinese "bei bi", which, as you probably noticed is pronounced in a very similar way to "baby" in English. There is one difference. In English the stress is on the first syllable; in Chinese it is stressed on the second. Now: why should I bother to post to you about this? Well, you see, there is something very odd in this coincidence of sound. The word "baby" on our tongue sounds like the word "bei bi" to a Chinese person - and what does it mean in Chinese? Well, one translation is "ignoble", another attempt at translation I have heard is "despicable".

I wonder what Mandarin speakers think, therefore, when Westerners use the word "ignoble" to describe their children. It is a funny world.

I could post on certain oddities I have noticed, in this part of the world, in addition to my mainstream on giftedness, prodigy and genius. If you found this comment interesting, please say so, so that I might choose to include observations I make on Asia, in future posts. Thanks very much.