Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s been called many things, but chances are “Sticky Rice” isn’t one of them. That’s how his name might be read on some ballots, according to Massachusetts state Secretary William Galvin.
Galvin says the Justice Department is pressuring Boston officials to translate candidates’ names into Chinese characters in precincts with predominantly Chinese-speaking populations. But because there’s no Chinese character for “Romney,” translators have resorted to finding characters that most closely match the sound of each syllable in the name — which leads to translations like this:
– Mitt Romney: “Sticky rice” or “uncooked rice”
– Fred Thompson: “Virtue soup”
– Boston Mayor Thomas Menino: “Imbecile” or “Barbarian mud no mind of his own”
– Barack Obama: Oh Bus Horse
