Oscar nominee Timothee Chalamet gets a ‘Sweet’ Chinese nickname
Star of Call Me By Your Name given a Mandarin moniker to match those of fellow celebrities ‘Big Cousin’, ‘Fruit Sister’ and ‘Lord of Butt’
When it comes to Chinese names for Western celebrities, “Sweet Tea” is definitely hot, “Fruit Sister” is off the menu, and an ample posterior can have you anointed “Lord of Butt”.
Chinese is expressed using idiomatic characters rather than an alphabet, making it difficult to use the language to transliterate foreign names, and opening the door for a range of creative and often bizarre appellations for well-known stars.
The recent Academy Awards minted a new star in China, Timothee Chalamet, a best actor nominee for – ironically – Call Me By Your Name.
He is known as “Tian Cha” or “Sweet Tea”, a play on the first syllables in his names and a nod to his heartthrob looks.
He is now among the hottest celebrities on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform, the subject of posts like: “Come and drink this cup of sweet tea, until the summer”.