• February 13, 2012
  • OF COURSE HER NAME IS ‘BETTY BROWN’: “The Texas Democratic Party demanded an apology Wednesday from state Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell for suggesting Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are ‘easier for Americans to deal with.’” Soon everybody in Terrell will have comically implausible names like “Sara Smith.” [Houston Chronicle]

{ 107 comments }

AngryBlakGuy April 9, 2009 at 11:19 am

…so I’m guessing she has issue pronouncing Bonquiqui?!

Godot April 9, 2009 at 11:21 am

Citizens of Terrell to be renamed by Stan Lee.

AfghanVet April 9, 2009 at 11:23 am

Texas = Awesome

“His first name was Amal and then the symbol for boron.”

ManchuCandidate April 9, 2009 at 11:23 am

I guess she got tired of being called “Betty Blown.”

Come here a minute April 9, 2009 at 11:24 am

If they don’t change they’re names, we’ll all have to learn CHINESE! WAKE UP SHEEPLE!!11!!

AngryBlakGuy April 9, 2009 at 11:24 am

…she want them to be like those customer services reps, that claim that their names are “John” or “Sara” or “Mike” but have an Indian accent so thick, you have to ask them to repeat every other word just to get your fukking warranty honored!!!!

as the world burns April 9, 2009 at 11:24 am

great comments over there.

Noodle Salad April 9, 2009 at 11:25 am

Totally agree. Toby, for example, is so much easier to remember than Kunta Kinte.

BillyClubb April 9, 2009 at 11:25 am

So many of my East-Texas in-laws already have such a hard time with the English language. What comical utterances will they make when when they attempt the pronunciation of Asian names?

AngryBlakGuy April 9, 2009 at 11:26 am

[re=284942]Godot[/re]: …you are now named “Jason Storm” but your arch enemies know you as “Eviscerator”!!!

BadKitty April 9, 2009 at 11:27 am

Like Seymour Buttz? Ima Hogg? Mike Hunt?

magic titty April 9, 2009 at 11:27 am

Translation: ‘If you’re Asian and yer name ain’t Bruce Lee, it’s too hard. Start over.’

Chickensmack April 9, 2009 at 11:29 am

Irreducibility should be left to mathematics. Apparently, she never heard Tom Lehrer speak about his friend “Hen3ry”. If she’d heard this bit prior to opening her yap, maybe she’d think Chinese isn’t so complex after all.

NoWireHangers April 9, 2009 at 11:31 am

Yes, it’s hard for Betty to understand names like Phuck Yu.

gjdodger April 9, 2009 at 11:31 am

Hey, I met a Chinese guy whose name was Miguel Gonzalez. He explained that he was standing in line at Immigration and when the guy in front of him was asked his name, he said, “Miguel Gonzalez.” Then it was the Chinese guy’s turn, and when the bored ICE guy asked him his name, he said, “Sam Ting.”

ChernobylSoup April 9, 2009 at 11:32 am

I’m with Betty on this one. Every Asian-American kid I know is named like, Mike, John, Kim, or Jennifer. They need proper modern suburban white names like Brandon, Taylor, Courtney, and Ashton, dammit.

Chickensmack April 9, 2009 at 11:32 am

[re=284950]BillyClubb[/re]: Yeah, no one really addresses the complexity of English in this story. As an extra special “WTF”, remember that Chinese is referred as “simplified” nowadays.

ManchuCandidate April 9, 2009 at 11:33 am

[re=284950]BillyClubb[/re]:
In the rural area I grew up in, I was usually known to the old bitters as the “Asian Boy” or Bruce Lee’s cousin. The irony was that my parents anglicized my Korean name to help me fit in.

freakishlystrong April 9, 2009 at 11:33 am

Tags=cold bangin’ hysterical…

Chickensmack April 9, 2009 at 11:34 am

[re=284961]ChernobylSoup[/re]: Melaniegh, Breighannonne, and Loreenamckennitt…

BillyClubb April 9, 2009 at 11:35 am

[re=284961]ChernobylSoup[/re]: Don’t leave out other classics such as Chelsea, Tiffany, Logan, or Brantley.

Rush April 9, 2009 at 11:37 am

Would “George Bush” be allowed?

shanemacgowan April 9, 2009 at 11:37 am

[re=284961]ChernobylSoup[/re]: More like Tripp, Trigg, Bristol . . .

AngryBlakGuy April 9, 2009 at 11:38 am

[re=284961]ChernobylSoup[/re]: …don’t forget Bristol, Trigg, Trapp, Piper and Levi!

as the world burns April 9, 2009 at 11:38 am

[re=284965]Chickensmack[/re]: [re=284961]ChernobylSoup[/re]: [re=284967]BillyClubb[/re]:

Tripp? Trigg? Track?

BigDupa April 9, 2009 at 11:38 am

My Chinese name is Tian Chu, my American name is “My Fucking Relatives Own All Your Debt So Fuck Off Ms. Brown” Call me Peter for short.

AngryBlakGuy April 9, 2009 at 11:39 am

[re=284965]Chickensmack[/re]: [re=284967]BillyClubb[/re]: [re=284961]ChernobylSoup[/re]: …I cant believe you guys left out Chad and Austin!!!

shanemacgowan April 9, 2009 at 11:39 am

I do recall a similar uproar when a State Senator from Detroit suggested that all residents should use their Wu-Tang name for official documents.

freakishlystrong April 9, 2009 at 11:40 am

[re=284973]BigDupa[/re]: ftw!

shanemacgowan April 9, 2009 at 11:40 am

[re=284971]AngryBlakGuy[/re]: call it a tie.

CrunchyKnee April 9, 2009 at 11:42 am

IF AMERICAN NAMES WERE GOOD ENOUGH FOR JESUS, THEY SHOULD BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR THEM ASIANISTS!!!!11!1

AngryBlakGuy April 9, 2009 at 11:42 am

[re=284979]shanemacgowan[/re]: …agreed!

WhatTheHeck April 9, 2009 at 11:44 am

You know, I’ve always had trouble wrapping my tongue around a name like Serolf.
I demand he change it to something like David.

AngryBlakGuy April 9, 2009 at 11:44 am

[re=284977]shanemacgowan[/re]: …dibs on RZA(and if that is taken U-God)!

JadedDIssonance April 9, 2009 at 11:46 am

my rooskie great grandfather changed his last name when he got here to blend in. why can’t the orientals do the same?

badmuthagoose April 9, 2009 at 11:46 am

Huh. Every Asian person I know is already named Amanda or John or Heather. Weird. And I’m in Texas, just like this twatwaffle. Need to go look at her pic now. Why does her name make me think of an old 70s southern rock song? Ah, BLACK Betty! That’s it! Right? Who did that song?

NoWireHangers April 9, 2009 at 11:48 am

[re=284976]AngryBlakGuy[/re]: Don’t get started on the D’Chante’s and the Jermajesty’s of the U.S. or we’ll be here all night.

Texan Bulldoggette April 9, 2009 at 11:48 am

Well, if you’ve ever been to or through Terrell, TX, you can understand the good state reps confusion with Asian names. It’s a poor, hardscrabble, ignorant hick outpost in east TX. There ain’t any Asians that live there because, well, Asians are … too smart to live there. Blacks live there (who are all called ‘boy’ or ‘girl’) because they’re too poor to get out & whites live there because they’re too stupid to want to get out. The highlight of any evening in Terrell is probably the back yard dog or chicken fights the overalled rednecks hopped up on Skoal & MadDog scrounge up. Also.

Schadenfried April 9, 2009 at 11:49 am

“Betty Brown” and “Sara Smith” are also foriegn names, from the country with the people with bad teeth and drink tea and shit. Just sayin’.

ChernobylSoup April 9, 2009 at 11:49 am

[re=284988]badmuthagoose[/re]: RamJam, I think.

Zadig April 9, 2009 at 11:49 am

God damn, people. Asian names aren’t that hard. Most non-Romance languages spell phonetically, so you just have to remember how things are pronounced in those languages. It wouldn’t even take five minutes to remember how to pronounce all Korean names ever. As opposed to the white dude whose last name you read off as “Anus” and he’s all “no, it’s ‘ah-noose,’ actually” and I’m all ‘fuck you, it’s Anus.

I will say, however, that I do enjoy watching my fellow whiteys struggle with Japanese names, which have the easiest romanization ever. They assume that since it’s foreign, they can’t possibly be pronounced like it looks.

Lascauxcaveman April 9, 2009 at 11:50 am

[re=284963]ManchuCandidate[/re]: Dang, bro. You’re Bruce Lee’s cousin? I bet you got all the white tail you could handle!

And I’m not talking about Canadian deer.

Tommy Says Soooo, Jugdish! April 9, 2009 at 11:51 am

I predict a “Richard Cohen” column remembering how all Chinese guys were named Charlie Chan.

FMA April 9, 2009 at 11:52 am

[re=284992]ChernobylSoup[/re]: Ram Jam did the ’70s version, which is based on a tune written by Leadbelly.

I knew being a music geek would come in handy one day.

Zadig April 9, 2009 at 11:53 am

[re=284989]NoWireHangers[/re]: Retract, dude. Everyone instinctively knows how to pronounce Jermajesty.

Anyway, I decided long ago to give my child the first name “Senator.” The next, of course, would be “Special Agent” or ‘Special’ for short.

Gopherit April 9, 2009 at 11:53 am

And another thing, why do y’all eat with sticks? Is eating with forks too much to ask? And while we’re at it, those eyes and skin color…..Jesus doesn’t approve.

sevenrepeat April 9, 2009 at 11:55 am

i’m guessing my asian drag name “sum yung guy hung solo” wouldn’t go over well.

Gopherit April 9, 2009 at 11:55 am

I went to college with a Korean guy named Suk Yung Ham. Let me tell you something, Ms Brown, that is one name you never forget.

Custerwolf April 9, 2009 at 11:55 am

Someone needs to trim Texas’ Brown fat.

Chickensmack April 9, 2009 at 11:57 am

[re=284984]WhatTheHeck[/re]: I’m sure he won’t mind if you wrap your tongue around him.

Thank you! I’m here all week!

ManchuCandidate April 9, 2009 at 11:57 am

[re=284995]Lascauxcaveman[/re]:
Strangely no. I sucked playing hockey (could skate, but couldn’t shoot) so the puck bunnies hung out with kids who could stick handle.

Yaybuls April 9, 2009 at 11:59 am

[re=284997]Tommy Says Soooo, Jugdish![/re]:

I got you a job! At Webster, Webster, & COHEN!

Custerwolf April 9, 2009 at 12:01 pm

[re=285003]Gopherit[/re]: Nor Kareemov Somyung Guy.

Lascauxcaveman April 9, 2009 at 12:01 pm

[re=284988]badmuthagoose[/re]: That would be Ram Jam .

(I had to look it up. No, I don’t remember their other big #1 smash hits)

smashtheduck April 9, 2009 at 12:05 pm

There’s a Vietnamese guy at my 7-11 named Charlie. He doesn’t think it’s as funny as I do.

NoWireHangers April 9, 2009 at 12:05 pm

[re=285000]Zadig[/re]: You’re too late:

Otieno named her baby “Senator Barack Obama Otieno”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/21/obama-babies-post-inaugur_n_159722.html

Godot April 9, 2009 at 12:06 pm

[re=284952]AngryBlakGuy[/re]: A non-alliterative name? That doesn’t sound like something that would come from the House of Ideas!

NoWireHangers April 9, 2009 at 12:07 pm

[re=285006]ManchuCandidate[/re]: Stick handle?

You Canadians are a hoot.

shanemacgowan April 9, 2009 at 12:08 pm

[re=284985]AngryBlakGuy[/re]: A Wu name would not work for me. I’ll have to use my porn name, Phil McKrackens.

Custerwolf April 9, 2009 at 12:10 pm

[re=285013]smashtheduck[/re]: I have a Korean friend named Wilma.

Custerwolf April 9, 2009 at 12:11 pm

I’ve also got a friend with a razor sharp sense of humor who’s name is Barb Dwyer.
No I don’t.

Red Zeppelin April 9, 2009 at 12:14 pm

Me no rikey the lacist rady!

Darkness April 9, 2009 at 12:16 pm

SamNotJoe Wurlzerbacher ALSO had his misspelled on the voter rolls and would not have been able to vote under these rules. Damn middle Europeans and their ferren names making hard work for those republicans tasked with doing a simple bookkeeping job. By the way, don’t ids have NUMBERS on them specifically to deal with this issue? Or is Ms. Brown dyslexic as well as tone deaf?

McDuff April 9, 2009 at 12:18 pm

Man to poll worker: “Yes it is spell ‘Yatch,’ but it is pronounced ‘Throatwarbbler-Mangrove.’”

Cape Clod April 9, 2009 at 12:18 pm

Good plan. Get likely Democrats to provide comically fake names when they come to vote so they can be more easily identified and turned away from the polling places.

“Your name is Sam Fransico? Nope, don’t see that anywhere on the registration list. That reminds me. I need to get my shirts done.”

Zadig April 9, 2009 at 12:21 pm

[re=285014]NoWireHangers[/re]: FUCK!
Well, there’s always “Lord Alchemist”

gurukalehuru April 9, 2009 at 12:22 pm

Real American names like Suri, Shiloh, Moon Unit, Apple, Rumer or Scout. I was going to make a Trig and Trip joke, but, well, you gotta be on your toes around here, apparently.

TGY April 9, 2009 at 12:26 pm

She just meant that some people should adopt a nickname signifying their true selves. Like Betty ‘Anal’ Brown.

As for ‘SKS’, the ‘K’ is for ‘Kismet’!

WIDTAP April 9, 2009 at 12:32 pm

Careful, or the Republicans will retaliate by demanding that either Kal Penn change his name back or that he be deported back to Montclair, New Jersey.

Cronopio77 April 9, 2009 at 12:38 pm

Oh, yeah, I just called her office. They are sticking fast to the “This is all just to eliminate voter fraud” message. Given that there has never been even an alleged case of actual, personal voter fraud in Texas? Yeah, draw your own conclusions.

And hey, if you’re a Texas voter? Call up! It’ll be fun!

Lazy Media April 9, 2009 at 12:39 pm

She has a point. I mean, that one Asian spokesdude’s last name is Ko. How the hell is an American supposed to try to pronounce THAT tongue-twister?

SocialistMuslin April 9, 2009 at 12:47 pm

Oh if only the Orientals would have more “American” names like Rod Blagojevich, or Samuel Wurzelbacher or Arnold Schwarzeneggar that are easier to pronounce and spell.

102415 April 9, 2009 at 12:48 pm

I was 10 years old before I could spell my own last name.By then I had narrowed down how to pronounce it to just a couple of ways. And it was simplified when my Grandpa entered the country. & and then some clicks is hard work for an American girl.

Zadig April 9, 2009 at 12:54 pm

[re=285072]Lazy Media[/re]: You’d think Texans would prefer monosyllabic names.

Come here a minute April 9, 2009 at 1:00 pm

My daddy left home when I was three
And he didn’t leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze
Now, I don’t blame him cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me Soo

groove April 9, 2009 at 1:08 pm

I, for one, wish I was Korean simply to get the bad-ass names.

smashtheduck April 9, 2009 at 1:08 pm

[re=285020]Custerwolf[/re]: Fabulous. I still think hippies are responsible for the most child-abuse by shitty names. I had a friend named “Tender Love” when I was a kid. I’m guessing she’s stripper now.

Lascauxcaveman April 9, 2009 at 1:10 pm

[re=285081]102415[/re]: Are you of Polish descent? My personal banker’s surname is “Szczepczynski.”

It sounds so easy when she says it.

Zadig April 9, 2009 at 1:13 pm

[re=285105]Lascauxcaveman[/re]: A brutal training regimen was required in kindergarten for her to remember pronunciation and spelling. Like Full Metal Jacket, but the DI uses your family name as a pejorative.

jaba the slut April 9, 2009 at 1:32 pm

There was a drag diva here in SF a number of years back who called herself Penis Brown Betty.
Koinkidence?

chascates April 9, 2009 at 1:52 pm

My landlord’s granddaughter was named ‘Lily White.’ That’s way more bizarre than ‘Dung Trinh’ (which I believe is pronounced Yume Ching?).

Lascauxcaveman April 9, 2009 at 1:54 pm

[re=285119]Zadig[/re]: Hmmm. Maybe not so much. But her husband, perhaps…

hobospacejunkie April 9, 2009 at 1:55 pm

[re=285105]Lascauxcaveman[/re]: shep-chin-skee?

Accordion-o-rama April 9, 2009 at 1:57 pm

Me thinks Ms. Brown needs a Wang Phuc.

Citizen Kang April 9, 2009 at 2:04 pm

Bitch is crazy! However, there’s a lot to be said for having Phat Ho and Phuc Ngo and Dung Hiep stricken from the public record. I can say this because I’m Asian-American and any unreasonable comment made by myself pertaining to my demographic must be taken as fact despite my narrow world view.

El Pinche April 9, 2009 at 2:09 pm

Is this THEEE Betty Brown , the Annie Sprinkles of scat sexxing??

Zadig April 9, 2009 at 2:11 pm

[re=285232]Lascauxcaveman[/re]: Sorry I didn’t assume that she was married and took her husband’s name, YOU SEX1ST!

Kidding, of course. I should have realized giving any potential offspring that name as part of a hyphen-surname would just be mean.

TeddyS April 9, 2009 at 2:16 pm

And taller. Them Asiakans need to be a lot taller so they can’t look up the skirts of white women. And less smarter too, all that studyin and gettin good grades from liberal teachers. ACORN voter fraud is what it is. Don’t do somethin about them names, tho, and we will end up with some kookie leftist name as president of the Other 49.

SomeNYGuy April 9, 2009 at 2:23 pm

Hey, if it’s good enough for PIYUSH, it’s good enough for me.

arclight April 9, 2009 at 2:40 pm

Oh, she’s just mad because she’s going bald.

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist4/brown.php

Bearbloke April 9, 2009 at 2:42 pm

“Betty Brown” is just her porn-name…

Baconbits April 9, 2009 at 3:00 pm

As an East Texan who just changed to a completely unpronounceable Chinese last name with no vowels, I can officially say that my previous, white, “All-Amur’can” last name was slaughtered far more frequently.

Baconbits April 9, 2009 at 3:03 pm

[re=285385]Baconbits[/re]: Also, said lily-white name was a bonus question on spelling tests for at least three 3rd grade classes that I’m aware of.

PsycGirl April 9, 2009 at 3:10 pm

Betty Brown is all full of herself cause a dessert is named after her.

JSDC007 April 9, 2009 at 3:12 pm

Don’t all them Texans have like two or three first names like Betty Sue, Mabelynn Tanqueray, Liz Beth Petunia, and the like?

Then Sue Chang should be as easy as pie.

SomeNYGuy April 9, 2009 at 3:15 pm

She used to be Betty White before her district was integrated.

AnnieGetYourFun April 9, 2009 at 4:49 pm

Bah. There are a total of, like, 15 Chinese surnames that get used with any regularity. Not hard to learn. On a side note, I’m always bummed when I’m poised to meet up with some guy whose last name is Lee and he turns out to be white. I only do the Asian dudes, and that’s just one less fuckable person.

Citizen Kang April 9, 2009 at 5:27 pm

[re=285641]AnnieGetYourFun[/re]:

Why hello there…I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure…

problemwithcaring April 9, 2009 at 5:46 pm

As long as we are making request of “Asian Americans” through some guy, can we ask them to chill out on the whole “overachieving in math/science/engineering” thingy? That would be so much easier than, you know, all of us “getting smarter.” As I understand it, that is difficult.

Lascauxcaveman April 9, 2009 at 6:31 pm

[re=285235]hobospacejunkie[/re]: Pretty close, actually.

hobospacejunkie April 9, 2009 at 6:36 pm

[re=285338]arclight[/re]: Betty Brown looks like she hasn’t had a vag full of jizz since about 1950, if ever. It ain’t gay marriage making people kill, it’s not getting laid that has ‘em all het up.

Lascauxcaveman April 9, 2009 at 6:38 pm

[re=285641]AnnieGetYourFun[/re]: I only do the Asian dudes, and that’s just one less fuckable person.

Dang! I can’t believe all the time I’ve wasted flirting with you, and all for naught? Does it count if I could pass for native American, in my end-of-summer-tan?

Numbat Dundee April 9, 2009 at 6:47 pm

Saxby Chambliss…

Bearbloke April 9, 2009 at 7:07 pm

[re=285817]hobospacejunkie[/re]: If I find some in the Medical Waste HAZMAT bin, she can have a vag full of that!

hobospacejunkie April 9, 2009 at 7:22 pm

[re=285856]Bearbloke[/re]: magically delicious!

SPlaTz April 10, 2009 at 1:25 am

If you’ve seen a pic of Betty low-BROWN she has some serious Australopithi-can’t primordial beauty goin on…..burp!
But seriously for a sec…..”easier for Americans to deal with”. Can’t stop laughing at that.
You might as well say…
Can you make me less dumb?
Once a name has a ng, or a ong, or a few more consonants than I can grasp I curl up and cry!
Furr-ners are just so much work…baby pout, baby pout….
Grasp the racism in all it’s frosty chill hate-full goodness!!!!!
Thanks Bett-eh! You make all-Uh_merichuns proud!

Blub April 10, 2009 at 2:53 pm

Didn’t Rick Perry declare independence today? Sayeth the new President of TX: “I believe that our federal government has become oppressive…Where are you gonna stand? …with the people of this state who understand the importance of states’ rights.”

So Betty, you’re now free to advocate for establishment of the Apartheid Union of Texas, complete with homelands an’ all. Enjoy.

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