China Has Some Awesomely Absurd Nicknames for Katy Perry, Other Celebrities

Gabe Zaldivar
by Gabe Zaldivar
Last updated: 3:00 AM ET, Thu February 5, 2015

Image via YouTube

You may just hear some odd things with a visit to China even if you happen to speak the native dialect.

CNN's Wilfred Chan reports on some hilarious nicknames given to various celebrities, breaking down the impetus behind monikers such as Fruit Sister and Lord of Butt.

Now that we have your attention, we might as well state those nicknames belong to Katy Perry and Jennifer Lopez respectively.

Perry, for those who weren't around a television this past Sunday, just completed a concert in a Hot Dog on a Stick costume at the Super Bowl:

It was that performance that Chan states caused an uproar on Twitter from Chinese users referring to someone named Fruit Sister.

Thankfully the mystery is a bit easier to solve than what was going through Pete Carroll's head to end the game.

Chan explains, "'Fruit Sister,' or 'shui guo jie,' is what people in China call Katy Perry - referring to her tendency to wear fruit costumes and bring giant fruit with her on stage."

Now that alone is worth the day's complement of interest, but the report states there are other nicknames of note from the country.

Here are just our favorites:

Jennifer Lopez - Lord of Butt: Now if you don't get the reference you may have flunked kindergarten humor 101. However, Chan adds that, "It's actually a bit of a pun. 'Luo ba' sounds similar to how Chinese people transliterate J-Lo's last name, 'Luo pei zi.'"

Benedict Cumberbatch - Curly Blessing: This is a reference to the actor's curly hair combined with the word that starts the name Sherlock Holmes.

However, we still refer to the man as Benadryl Cabbagepatch.

Leonardo DiCaprio - Pikachu: Now the actor isn't some sort of Pokemon in disguise. It seems a Taiwanese news anchor once had issue with pronouncing the name and dubbed DiCaprio as Pikachu, giving the world a delicious treat years later.

Jennifer Lawrence - Cousin: Here is a deeper dive into Chinese humor. It seems that during the 2011 Oscars, many around the nation proclaimed they knew Lawrence would win an award because of having a cousin closely tied with the results.

Chan explains, "It was a playful dig at how some Chinese people are desperate to show they have powerful family members."

Mariah Carey - Cow Sister: We strongly discourage referring to anyone with this phrase. Although Chan explains the phrase pretty much means "[expletive] awesome."

So in China, being a Cow Sister is a very good thing.

Now you still might have some issues with various intricacies around China. But if you come across a gabfest on the state of popular culture, you will be well prepared.


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