When my mother found out the sex of our little fetus, she set out to Wat Lao (Laotian Buddhist temple) to gather a list of Laotian names correlating around his due date. Each name on the list depended on the day he decided to come. Some days had two names: a morning name and an evening name. My husband and I were horrified at some of the names because they were so, uh, ethnic. We hoped he wouldn’t come on a Tuesday and especially not Wednesday. We also didn’t care for Monday or even Saturday along with Friday (his due date day). Okay, we felt really bad that we were reneging on a Lao name! I used every fiber in my pregnant body to convey good-labor vibes for him to come on Thursday or Sunday. My mom vehemently declined my request to just pick Thursday or Sunday so we just had to wait. One thing we knew for sure was that his Lao nickname would be Humnoy.
Humnoy, in essence, means “small balls.” Not basketball-balls but balls-balls. If it makes you feel any better, it is interchangeable with meaning “little boy.” In Lao culture, everyone has a nickname. They call me “Theek.” Long story short, my due date comes and goes along with Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Could it be Thursday?! Nope, that passes along with Friday and Saturday then my water breaks at 41 weeks and 3 days on Sunday, March 13th, 2011. 💓
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Laotian Mama, thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving the nice comment. Now my turn.
I wrote a post about the phrase “Hum Yai.” See here: http://globalsquatter.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/what-is-this-warning-graphic/
In general, Western readers freak out about something of this nature. But you and I comfortably talk about Humnoy and HumYai (hahaha), we’re on the same page.
And your Humnoy is adorable.
An informative blog you write!
GS
Ha! Some people get a kick out of the nickname and others get really worried.
It’s difficult to explain how our culture has an odd sense of humor and usually comprises of making fun of one another and laughing at ourselves, which is the beauty of it!
Thanks for the comment! I do believe my Humnoy is quite adorable but I harbor a bit of a bias for that child. 😉
He is so cute!
Thank you much! I always felt biased when GH and I would constantly say it but, I mean, when you say so too….. it’s confirmation. 😉
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