Chinese teacher shares 18 American names with delightfully awkward meanings in Mandarin

So sorry, Nelson and Dylan.

By Annie Reneau

When you see a list of the year's most popular baby names, what you're really looking at are the most common baby names in a specific country or culture. If you live in the U.S., you likely know a whole lot of kids named Olivia, Emma, Liam, and Noah, but if you live in Thailand or Kyrgyzstan or Botswana, you probably don't.

Simply saying common names in different countries can sometimes result in hilarity. A name that sounds beautiful and has a lovely meaning in one language might sound odd and mean something very different in another. For instance, Odd is a common name in Norway, but it sounds…well, odd to and English ear. The former president of Vietnam had the last name Phuc, which surely led to some awkward moments for Americans who had to address "President Phuc." (The "u" is pronounced more like the "oo" sound, but if you'd never heard it said, you wouldn't know.)

Chinese language and culture instructor Dr. Candise Lin is sharing American names that sound funny to Mandarin speakers because of what they mean when pronounced with Chinese phonetics, and it's a hoot.

Teddy Roosevelt's method for overcoming grief and depression holds up more than 100 years later

"Black care rarely sits behind a rider whose pace is fast enough."

By Emily Shiffer

Theodore Roosevelt lived a life of lore. The 26th President's reputation for being tough and adventurous was well-earned.

Born in 1858, his life was not easy from the start. He struggled with health problems and severe asthma, but was pushed by his father to exercise and develop physical strength. After attending Harvard University, he married Alice Hathaway Lee in 1880 and his political career began. But soon, personal tragedies would destroy his world.

Michelle Krawl, a historian in the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress, explained two major tragedies that led to Roosevelt battling depression and embarking on a painful grief journey.

If this happened to me, I’d never move 🥰

Here are five joyful things that are brightening up our internet this week

By Sarah Watts

Joy has a way of finding us when we least expect it. Sometimes it’s as small as the sound of a contagious laugh. Other times, it arrives in big, unforgettable moments — like a stranger showing up with an unexpected Christmas gift for a child in need.

We all need tiny reminders of what it looks like when people feel joy and spread joy around to other people without hesitation — which is why we’re working with our friends at Shriners Children’s™ to highlight the five best examples of pure joy we’ve seen on the internet this week. Big and small, here are five truly joyful moments you’ll be glad not to have missed.

Resurfaced clip of young Michael Jackson and Roberta Flack singing 'When We Grow Up' is pure magic

How did this disappear from the cultural radar?

By Tod Perry

Every once in a while, a gem of an old performance starts trending online, and you wonder, how have I never seen that before? Michael Jackson is one of the most popular entertainers ever to live, and Roberta Flack is one of the most prominent singers of the ‘70s, so where has their magical performance together in 1974 on the Free to Be…You and Me TV special been hiding all this time?

The TV special was based on a popular 1972 album put together by the actress Marlo Thomas, fresh off her hit show That Girl, and was sponsored by Ms., a popular feminist magazine. The goal of the project, which would become a gold album, a television special, and a foundation, was to show the younger generation that they can be whoever they want to be. The video gained attention recently after being shared on X by Melodies and Masterpieces.