James Baquet

    Mark is chatting with his classmate Ming in the common room of their dorm.

    Mark: What have you been up to lately, Ming?

    Ming: I’ve been listening to pop music.

    Mark: Do you like it?

    Ming: Some of it. But sometimes I think the names of the bands and singers are pretty funny.

    Mark: For example?

    Ming: Like “The Beatles.”

    Mark: Oh! The greatest band of all time!

    Ming: In your opinion. But that’s not even a word!

    Mark: There’s a little joke in there. One of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands of the ’50s was “Buddy Holly and the Crickets.” The “Lads from Liverpool” admired them, and wanted to pay tribute. But instead of calling themselves “The Beetles” with two Es, they changed it to include the word “beat.”

    Ming: I guess that makes sense. But Lady Gaga’s name is totally silly.

    Mark: Literally!

    Ming: What do you mean?

    Mark: The word “gaga” means something like “silly” or “crazy.”

    Ming: Can you use it in a sentence?

    Mark: Sure. “Kids go gaga over rock music,” or “I’m just gaga about the Beatles.”

    Ming: I see. What about the singer named Sting?

    Mark: I love that guy! His real name is Gordon Sumner, but his nickname comes from something kind of funny.

    Ming: What was that?

    Mark: One night he wore a black-and-yellow striped sweater to a performance. Another band member thought it made him look like a bee, and gave him that nickname.

    Ming: Ha! I notice that some bands refer to religion and mythology in their names.

    Mark: Like who?

    Ming: “Nirvana,” for instance. That’s the goal of Buddhist practice.

    Mark: True. But it’s also sort of a pop culture word.

    Ming: How do you mean?

    Mark: It can be used for any pleasant or near-perfect experience.

    Ming: Like “Staying at the resort was nirvana?”

    Mark: Right. So the band may have been alluding to a more general state of bliss, not the Buddhist one.

    Ming: Got it. Another old band was named “Styx.” That’s the river that dead people had to cross in Greek mythology, right?

    Mark: Right. Funnily enough, it had no real significance for the band members. They came up with a list of names, and chose this one because it was the only one that none of them hated!

    Ming: That is funny! How about “The Backstreet Boys?” Is there a good story there?

    Mark: In fact, yes. It would be easy to assume that they were referring to the small streets, off the main roads.

    Ming: But?

    Mark: In fact, they named themselves after a place called “Backstreet Market,” a place where teenagers hung out in Orlando, Florida, where some of the band members were from.