The English name for the five mascot dolls of the 2008 Beijing Olympics was changed last week, from “Friendlies” to Chinese Pinyin “Fuwa”.

A good change. When I heard the English name “ Friendlies”, I thought it was a piece of shit. The original name doesn’t show any signs of friendship and spirit of the Olympics. It’s just like a name given by some guys who only sit in the shit and lack English background. It can’t give any excitement and imagination to people who love sports.

The new name is not every good, either. But better than the original one anyhow. After all, it is Chinese style. The XXIV Olympic Games are going to be held in China, certainly the mascots of Chinese unique characters must be given their folk names instead of something else. Fuwa is more readable than Friendlies. The most important is that foreigners can fully understand them with the help of the introduction to them. That’s enough. And What’s more, foreigners can become interested in Chinese folk culture from now on.

Just think about it. In the past Olympic Games, most host nations used their own languages to name their mascots. They didn’t try to look them up in a dictionary.

But I dare say this change is a little late. Why not early? Why not at the very beginning?