Purple and Pepsi

Children here are generally known by a nickname which tends to stick.  For in stance, the children in this house are Sith, Sasa, Fifi,Alice, Nini and Yaya.  They all have proper Khmer names but there is a belief that if you call a child by their real name then the bad spirits will get to know them and can inhabit them whilst they are still vulnerable.  Often, children are given the names of common household things for their pet name.

I was teaching colour to a class recently and afterwards one of the boys came up to me to tell me, very proudly, that his name was Purple.  I love that; what a great name.  I have a girl called Mum and a girl called Srey Mum.  Sray means girl, woman, sister, female, anything to do with gender.  Another girl is called Thai; Pepsi is another common name.   The best of all though goes to a boy that Lori had been teaching.  His name was Top Sirloin.  Beat that!