Jade

Hi,
I was shocked to find such an odd name ranking 32 in 2002 and 90 in 2004 ( Top 100 names for baby girls in England and Wales).
Collins, jade:
a) a semiprecious stone consisting of either jadeite or nephrite. It varies in colour from white to green and is used for making ornaments and jewellery
b) an old overworked horse; nag; hack
c) a woman considered to be ill-tempered or disreputable (derogatory or facetious)

Yes, the first meaning is nice, but how can people ignore the other two?

Jack is #1for boys. Is it really a full name? I thought it was derivative from John.

Thanks.

The other two meanings of "jade" are unfamiliar to me, and their meanings would not occur to me out of context. I'm as surprised as you are that it's such a common name for babies now, though. Considering all the naming possibilities, #32 is pretty high.

"Jack" can be a nickname for "John", but it's become so common that a lot of people are simply named "Jack" instead of "John". Part of the reason might be that my impression is that "John" is beginning to sound old-fashioned, although I'm sure plenty of children will continue to be named John for some time to come.

- Kef

To most people in Britain the very name Jade instantly brings to mind a certain high profile woman. Jade is of course a girl's first name but I doubt very, very much indeed that many - if any at all - baby girls are now being given that name at the baptismal fonts of the UK . Many Brits feel extremely ambivalent about this person for various reasons - a a meteroic rise from a less than savoury personal background to a multi million quid perfumery business on one side and a nasty, very public, highly racist and exceedingly offensive encounter with a certain extremely attractive Bollywood (not Hollywood - Bollywood) actress on the other. Include in that vile language and a truly dreich standard of sink estate personal behaviour. Because of the latter, the former has suffered a sharp decline in sales and last year's events on the TV screens of the UK and elsewhere is why virtually no more baby girls in this country are being given the name of Jade.

Jade Goody???? No, not again. Let's forget her!!!

Anyway, nomen est omen - she *is* both ill-tempered and disreputable.

I've met several people named Jade over the years; it's a nice name, pretty and exotic.

The reason why people can easily ignore your last two definitions of the word is that those haven't been used in forever. They were obsolete long before any of us were born!

To be jaded is still in use, but it's not really thought of in the same breath as the name Jade, which is far more likely to evoke the stone or a soft shade of green. (After all, it isn't the first English word to have more than one meaning!)

<< Jade Goody???? No, not again. Let's forget her!!! >>

Yes, lets. And that also includes her mum and Jack Tweed.

there is a hollywood flick named as "Jade". It sounds nice and neat on my ears. Interesting name.

Sure, everybody knows of the reality show scandal; I just didn't catch the names. Now I’ve read a lot about the Jade.
<The reason why people can easily ignore your last two definitions of the word is that those haven't been used in forever. They were obsolete long before any of us were born! >
- Then, what are the common synonyms for the b) and c) ?

That "lady" (term used very loosely here) has defiled the name of Jade almost irreparably. Let's forget about that particular person (her business has gone down the pan anyway....all her own fault) but let's look upon the name Jade as being quite pretty really. I've never personally met a Jade but if I ever do I'd like to think she'll be nice and pleasant and gracious.

<<- Then, what are the common synonyms for the b) and c) ?>>

"Bitch" is the most common term for definition C.

Yes, as Uriel said 'Jaded' is still used, such as that picture is looking jaded to mean looking tatty as well 'I'm jaded' to mean I am knackered or tired.

I don't agree with the Jade Goody episode, I saw nothing racist in what happened at all. The media latched onto this to flex its anti-racism muscles because it is the thing to do these days.

I saw a few episodes because I did take an interest in this 'episode' (I'm also a Jackson 5 nut) and what I saw was what channel 4 wanted us to see, and that was a clash of class.

The way Shilpa carried herself was in stark contrast to the common as dirt Jade and her cronies. I could see it coming a mile off that Shilpa's seemingly uppity manner would grate with trollops such as Jade and the others. I could see how they would perceive Shilpa sophistication as looking and talking down to them as well as intimidating them.

But racism - bollocks. I have been subjected to a fair amount of racism over the years and I think I probably know a fair bit about it. I did not see any racism in that house (even the shilpa poppadom comment was never actually said when it has been implied that it was said and if you look at the circumstances in which it was said I think people would see you just had a silly girl say a silly thing). It was shocking how the media twisted and turned so much.

What pissed me off the most was how Britain somehow got painted in a bad light and our politicians then had to grovel to Indian politicians. Those politicians should have asked how the 'untouchables' are doing over there?? It was pathetic, ask Shilpa how she treats them, ask whether she would ever dream of going out with a person of another caste let alone another religion let alone a black or a white man (did anyone see the effigies of Richard Gere being burnt because he gave Shilpa a peck on the lips??). Also ask how dark skinned people are frowned upon in India and how to really do well, the lighter you are the farer you go (generally). I travelled across India for 6 months as well as being brought up in an Asian (well half) household, and from what I have seen India is far more racist than this land.

Still, a fascinating place, of incredible beauty, history, culture and people. I'd recommend anyone going there someday.

I am positive I am going to get banned soon.

lol....there is no ban rule on this forum because of no registeration system.

well, india was ruled by British people in the past, and how indians were treated by British people had no comparision with that of treatment Shilpa

got. There are classes elite, middle and poor in every country. People dont like to hang out with other class. call it arrogance or racism or whatever.

low caste is not like people are killing each other. Indians were killed in their homeland by British rulers and Army.

PUB LUNCH:

I agree with you on that. I didn't see a modicum of racism in that house, either. Bullying and disruptive behaviour, yes, but racism, no. It was *definitely* a class thing. Jade, who was raised on a sink estate by a mother whom I'd rather not qualify, hated Shilpa's guts or just couldn't stand her because of her upper-class way of behaviour. And because she's a bully by nature and isn't intelligent enough to express her antipathy in a civilised way. The way she was mocking Shilpa's accent and behaviour and telling her off for using more chicken cubes (?) than necessary was rather childish, to say the least. Anyway, I didn't consider Shilpa's behaviour "uppity" in a negative way - that's the way she was brought up, so her manners are intrinsically coded, so to say. The same applies to Jade - she can't help behaving like a lout.

Although I think it's utterly disgraceful what she and her "allies" did to Shilpa, I'm positive it had nothing to do with racism. Therefore, I find this sensationalist palaver over "Racism in Big Brother" extremely ridiculous, not to mention the politicisation of such a kindergarden bullying and involving the entire Indian government in a trivial matter like this.

Now, you aren't the only person around to get banned in no time. :-)

I didn't watch that BB. I used to work for the company that did her PR. She never acted like a bully or racist while she was with us (I looked after her before she went in the house the first time and help arrange her bookings for about a year after). I suspect the whole episode in her second stint was blown out of proportion. I'm alittle out of touch with events but I would guess she p***ed some papers off by signing exclusive deals with one of their competitors. This had all the hallmarks of grudge journalism.

For what it's worth I actually work in journalism and I respect your right to defend Jade Goody. To be frank with you, in the context of what we've been talking about vis a vis her Big Brother appearance, it matters little how she behaved when she was with your company. What concerns most viewers who watched that well publicised and quite repugnant episode on their TV screens for several days running was the way Jade Goody behaved and the highly colourful language she used. It would have done justice to a battle scarred infantryman on a really bad day. All of it aimed at an extremely beautiful and graceful lady, the exact antithesis of Jade Goody herself. The contrast between the two of them could not have been greater.

That was the root cause of the whole problem. I agree racism was not really the main issue - as is often the case in situations like this, involving people of different cultural backgrounds engaged in some kind of dispute, accusations of racism are immediately raised. The real cause of Jade Goody's appalling behaviour was that old chestnut - the green eyed monster.

There was the beautiful Shilpa, a prominent Bollywood actress who had come over to the UK to raise her professional profile, a lady in the true sense of the word, speaking in perfect well constructed English with a gorgeous Indian accent, impeccable manners, a wonderful figure and gracefully moving in a way that was pure poetry in motion.

Then there was Jade - amazingly a millionairess now, that can't be denied - but totally lacking in all the attributes possessed by Shilpa - she portrayed all the bearings of a raucous foul mouthed fishwife, completely lacking in any kind of style and still carrying all the baggage of the worst of the worst kind of a chav infested British sink estate - which really is her background. Based on what we saw she obviously has made little attempt to escape from that background in spite of her fame, fortune and success in business and it all came out all too clearly in her behaviour brought about by jealousy. This jealousy of Shilpa was shared by several of the other female housemates and they acted accordingly in the same way but Jade Goody was the most vocal, along with her equally objectionable mother of exactly the same kind of demeanour. Like Mum like Daughter...

How Shilpa withstood all this venom with such graceful poise and composure I'll never know.

Thankfully Jade Goody seems to have drifted away into obscurity now.....at least I don't hear anything of her now. Maybe she's joined the Order of the Sisters of Mercy or some such outfit. One thing's for sure - she wont last long there with her BB vocabulary. She'd soon get th Order of the Boot.