New Zealand authorities have blocked a couple's bid to officially name their new son "4real,'' saying numerals are not allowed.
Pat and Sheena Wheaton said they decided to name their new baby "4real'' shortly after glimpsing him for the first time as a fetus during an ultrasound examination and being struck by the reality of his impending arrival.
"For most of us, when we try to figure out what our names mean, we have to look it up in a babies book and ... there's no direct link between the meaning and the name,'' Pat Wheaton told TV One. "With this name, everyone knows what it means.''
But when the parents filed the name with New Zealand's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, they were told names beginning with a number were against the rules.
The government office has opened negotiations with the parents about the name under a policy that says all unusual names must be given case-by-case consideration.
"The name has not at this stage been rejected,'' Registrar-General Brian Clarke said in a statement. "We are currently in discussions with the parents ... to clarify the situation.'' Clarke said the rules are designed to prevent names that are "likely to cause offense to a reasonable person.'' Satan and Adolf Hitler were proposed names that have been declined, he said.
If no compromise has been reached by July 9, the baby will be registered as "Real,'' officials say.
New Zealand law requires all children born in the South Pacific nation to be registered with the Births, Deaths and Marriages registry within two months of birth.
紐西蘭一對夫妻打算將甫出生的兒子命名為「4real」,但紐西蘭當局有意見,認為依法名字不應出現數字。
佩特.威頓與席娜.威頓夫婦說他們第一次做超音波檢查瞥見胎兒時,對新生命即將到來感到震撼,馬上就決定將他命名為「4real」。
「人們想了解自己名字的意義時,大多會翻翻嬰兒書‥‥‥卻找不到名字與涵義的直接關聯,」佩特.威頓告訴TV One 說︰「但人人都明白這個名字的涵義。」
這對父母到紐西蘭「出生、死亡和婚姻登記署」登記這個名字時,被告知名字依規定不可用數字起頭。
現行政策規定,任何不尋常的名字都必須依個案來考量,所以登記署已與這對家長溝通。
「這個名字在現階段尚未被駁回,」登記署署長布萊恩.克拉克在聲明中表示︰「我們正與這對家長討論‥‥‥好釐清狀況。」
克拉克說,這些規定都是為了避免「可能引起一般人反感」的名字。他說,撒旦和阿道夫.希特勒都是登記時遭回絕的名字。
官員們說︰「假如七月九日前未取得妥協,寶寶的名字就會登記為『Real』。」
紐西蘭法律規定,所有出生的寶寶,都得在出生兩個月內向「出生、死亡和婚姻登記署」登記身分。
(美聯社/翻譯︰賴美君)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
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