A lot of Yao's fans in China now call him "the terminater", since phonatically, "Yao Ming" in Mandarin sounds exactly like "the terminater" or, "the one who will take your life".
Terminater? I hope your not talking about those guys that goes around terminating ants and other pests. He's the YAOMINATER!!!
No, I would think of it this way: he would terminate the hope of winning for other teams and bring the Rox a final win (well, hopefully in a not-too-long future)!
in chinese his name can sound like this: yao = want ming = life if you say "wo YAO ni de MING" wo = I ni de = your Wo yao ni de ming = I want to take your life
hmm, ming 'life' is a different tone than his ming 'bright', i think its funnier if its ming 'name' (ming zi) as in 'needs a name' because ive seen more names tossed out at him and none of them have yet to stick permanently.
When Yao get a triple double: "The Yaominator just Yaominated (fill in the blank)". When Yao gets off the bench and subs in: "Someone just called the Yaominater!" Yao's easiest question to answer before a game: "To Yaominate or not to Yaominate?" When Yao dunks on someone: "Someone just got Yaominated!" My fav. "You cant stop the Yaominater! You can only hope to contain him!"
actually, it should be translated into "Lethal" Yao Ming, in Chinese, sounds like Lethal... I like it.
Well! I appreciate this nickname. i know that Yao fans in China are seeking for a suitable nickname for Yao. [Terminator] is really no good, as the above said 'T 1000' or Arnold so, lets make Yaominater the English nickname of Yaoming.
Can't wait till Yao is on national TV and as a promo to the game, they get Yao dressed in a leather jacket, with the dark shades, on a motorcycle (?!) and with the Terminator music in the background, Yao says: "Yao'll be back!"
Seriously... I can vouch for the translation too. Yao Ming has a homonym translation of 1. Do you want to live? 2. I want to live!!! It depends on how you say it, and what kind of puctuation you use. Personally, I like (1) translation, but it makes him sound like an undertaker. From all accounts, he seems like a nice enough guy. -peace
Remember the Seinfeld episode where the Chinese female lawyer is defending her cousin "Ping," but drops the lawsuit against Elaine when they become friends. Then Elaine screws up and Ping says, "lawsuit back on.....people at the court call her the Terminator." Anyway, I think it is a perfect nickname for Ming.
