SINGAPORE - You know, ya? I don't know!
Eunoia, the name of Singapore's newest junior college, has generated much buzz - and a lot of head-scratching over how to pronounce the name - even before it opens in 2017.
It was the top Google search by users in Singapore on Tuesday (Dec 29), with more than 10,000 searches. There was even an online petition to change the name, which garnered more than 150 signatures before it was taken down on Wednesday.
Eunoia, which has Greek origins, means "beautiful thinking" or "goodwill towards others".
But creative netizens immediately gave it a Singaporean spin, with their humorous take on the word.
"You know, ya" was widely circulated on social media.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) responded on Tuesday (Dec 29) night, with an equally humorous take on how to pronounce it (say "yoo-noh-iea").
MOE wrote in a Facebook post: "You know ya, it is not pronounced 'you-know-ya'...So the next time someone asks you what the name of the new JC is, don't say you don't know, ya?
On The Straits Times' Facebook page, the top comment - with over 500 likes - was a joke by user Yi Heng Teo on the conversation between a son and his mother discussing the JC's name.
Others pointed out that Eunoia could become a headache for taxi drivers, who may confuse Eunoia with Eunos.
On local humour site SGAG, a comic spoof of Eunoia JC has garnered more than 3,700 likes and over 1,400 shares since it was uploaded on Facebook on Tuesday.
