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Serious question: why do the Sri Lankans have such long names? What is the cultural relevance to it?
I just want to know.
The XI starting this test has 34 initials between them even with Murali’s pathetic single M.
Murali’s a Tamil innit, so that’s maybe why he’s got the singular initla. Is it a Sinhalese thing?
*drumroll as qualified person makes an appeal*
Yes, it’s to do with Sinhalese ppl…I’ve been living here for 6 years now but I ain’t close to finding out why they have so many initials…
BTW, KC, WPUJC Vaas and UWMBCA Welagedera did play together…they played against the Poms (Wela’s sole match before this test)…skittled them out for 79 or something like that, with WPUJC taking 4 and UWMBCA taking 2…so they are actually partners in crime, in cricket as well as names! 😉
Don’t you think that mother joke is in bad taste?
Maybe they just filled in their details incorrectly. Address in the name field?
They should be careful – their names can have alternate meanings in other languages. “Warna” means otherwise in Urdu. So “Warna”kulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas, would mean, “Otherwise known as” kulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas. Which may be an attempt to hide an ever longer name *shudders*.
As for Uda Walawwe Mahim Bandaralage Chanaka Asanga Welegedara, “Bandar” means “monkey”, “lage” means “looks like”. You guys can add 2 and 2.
Not only have Vaas and Welagedera played together in a Test, they even teamed up to make a dismissal:
RS Bopara c UWMBCA Welegedara b WPUJC Vaas 0
yup, the mother line is going to hurt subcontinental sensibilities.
Peter Griffiths of CricketArchive dug up this scorecard, in which the Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club team has both Sri Narayana Ratnayake Herath Mudiyanselage Senadi Bandara Malmeewala and Amunugama Rajapakse Rajakaruna Abeykoon Panditha Wasalamudiyanse Ralahamilage Ranjith Krishantha Bandara Amunugama playing for it.
You’d at least have the decency to alternate vowels and consonants in the inital letters so that it spelt out something you could pronounce.
Sounds perfectly reasonable in Welsh.
Bad joke man ! Didnt expect this blog to have such a thing.
Even we in India have long names. The names usuall contain our name, fathers name and the surname.
Maybe thats how even SL ppl have long names.
Why do you find a prob in that ?
Even Ross Taylor has an amazingly long name considering you whites have short names like Chunk,Drunk,John,Moan etc
Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor
We’ve no problem with it at all, Sujan. Why do you think that we do.
If anything, we’re in favour. More names for everyone!
that was soo insulting…. bad joke, not even funny when you are Sri Lankan.. soo racist…. what loosers…
I personally find that joke offensive, as I am a Sri Lankan and I too have a “long name”. It is common in Sri Lanka and I belive that no one should be making fun out of a well respected custom of another country. This I find very dissapointing.
Making a joke about somebody’s mother’s death I assume, will be considered in bad taste by any decent person.
Srilankan people worship their parents and care for them very much unlike in Westerners who visit their parents or send a card once a year at X’mas, dump them in old peoples homes, leaving them to die of old age lonley.
To to make a joke of this kind about a Srilankan player’s mother is definitely a work of an imbecile.
What’s wrong with having long names anyway? Just make the effort to pronunce them properly. Might even be a good brain developing activity for some of you (especially the writer).
For fuck’s sake. This is getting ridiculous.
(1) There’s nothing wrong with having a long name. We have not said that there is.
(2) His mother didn’t really die of sewing in a name tag. No-one could ever die of that. If they could, we wouldn’t have joked about it. The joke is not about his mother dying. It is about his having a long name.
You can joke about things non-viciously, you know.
Um, Taylor isn’t white. He’s Samoan.
You can joke about things non-viciously.. but this is not one of those instances… this joke is offending, must be a new word for you so look it up….
I really enjoy this site – mainly because of the good natured banter, micky taking etc. So i’m not happy to see all these politically correct comments appearing. If you don’t have a sense of humour go somewhere else. People who can’t see the humour in the mother and name length joke probably love watching sides grind to 600+ and feel that this experience is self-fulfilling.
You know what they say about guys with long hands, long feet, or long names.
Ladies, you’ve been warned.
Also, John Smith – be jealous. Be very jealous.