The Big Egghead story

Believe it or not, the name of this blog has nothing to do with the fact that I actually do have an egghead. It comes from my time living in China, and the direct translation of my actual name... Dan Dato.

Dato is an Italian surname and, although we pronounce it DAY-TOE in the US, in Italy (and most other places around the world) they pronounce it DA-TOE. When I moved to China in 1997 I needed to choose a Chinese name for my green card. Usually this is done by making a direct phonetic translation of one's name. Sometimes this has a very appropriate outcome. For example, America is called "Mei Guo" (pronounced MAY-GWO), which translated means "beautiful land". Isn't that nice? :-)

Unfortunately for me, my name didn't come out quite so elegantly...

"Dan" means "egg"
"Da" means "big"
"Toe" means "head"

That's right, my last name literally translates to "Big Head" in Chinese (explaining the subtle chuckles everytime I'm introduced to a Chinese person). I've had a lot of nicknames in my life (The Dan, Dan-O, Danimal, Double-D, Triple, Triple-D, Scamper and CouchPoDato to name but a few), but The Big Egghead is the one that always makes me laugh.

What fun is life if you can't laugh at yourself?