The following contribution comes all the way from San Francisco where my good friend, Shimone, reflects on his childhood in Israel:
So my family and I love to play this game – try and come up with as many names we can think of that sound great in Hebrew but hilarious in English. Some of them just look funny as they’re written and mispronounced, others are funny simply because of how they sound.
Imagine roll call in the US as the teacher asks, “Is there an Osnot Maman here?” Funny in the US maybe…but Osnot Maman was a childhood friend of mine growing up in Israel 
So here’s what I can come up with in no particular order:
Osnot (pronounced Oh Snot)
Oded (pronounced Oh Dead)
Ophir (pronounced Oh Fear)
Ophri (pronounced Oh Free)
Dikla, Diklit (pronounced Deek Lah and Deek Leet)
Limor (pronounced Lee More)
Bar (pronounced Bahr)
Gil (pronounced Geel)
Dor (pronounced Door)
Dror (pronounced Drawer)
Bat (pronounced Baht)
Mor (pronounced More)
Alon (pronounced Alohn)
Or (pronounced Ohr)
Nir (pronounced Near)
Nissan (a Hebrew month actually)
Tal (pronounced Tall)
Amit (pronounced Ah Meat)
Anat (pronounced Ah Not)
Ramit (pronounced Raw Meat)
Shlomit (pronounced Shlow Meat)
Mangina (pronounced Mahn Gee Nah)
Moran (pronounced Morahn)
Gad (pronounced God)
Uzi (where do you think the gun came from?)
Lital (Lee Tall)
Guy (pronounced Guy)
Gal (pronounced Gahl)
Dudu (pronounced Doo-Doo)
Guy Penis (a famous Israel TV personality)
and of course my own name…
Shimone (pronounced She Moan)
February 9, 2007 at 5:42 PM |
You forgot some of my favorites …
Nimrod
Dudi (pronounced Doodie)
Shmulik (pronounced Shmoolik)
Maayan (the name doesn’t sound so funny, but it’s been ruined in my ears)
February 9, 2007 at 7:16 PM |
Nimrod
i just cant get over that name. and my fiance doesnt get why i laugh every time he says his friends name…
October 21, 2008 at 10:45 PM |
[...] recently stumbled upon a funny post on Hebrew names at the blog Zabaj. Here’s a snippet: So my family and I love to play this game – try and come [...]