Who invented Ping Pong?

[DukeGaGa]

If you read post #54 in this thread, I clearly stated that Chinese were not doing it purposely.

Did I ever say other Chinese phrases were demeaning? I clearly said over & over that all the great work that Far East Asians do to promote tabl etnnsi can be negated by this simple error.
My comments were limited to use of the phrase "ping pong" or "ping ping" or whatever as some officilly trademarked name for tabletennis & how it effects the worldwide image & not just within China only. You obviously want to ignore the fact that Spanish,Portuguese, Swedes, French, Germans etc use the proper phrase of tabletennis in their own languages.
I see that you will continue on insisting that Far East Asians must continue to use a childish sounding name like "ping pong" & not much I can do about it if you want to go in circles over &over.
.

Language evolve, the translation might change over time as well, that means currently if a certain translation is agreed upon by most people that use that language, then that is the proper translation, simple as that.

And again, you're the one with the problem, not everyone else. So you can say all you want, but nothing is going to change because you, and only you have a problem.

 

[James Z]

..

Happy New Year 2023

 

[Gtsnake]

If you read post #54 in this thread, I clearly stated that Chinese were not doing it purposely.

Did I ever say other Chinese phrases were demeaning? I clearly said over & over that all the great work that Far East Asians do to promote tabl etnnsi can be negated by this simple error.
My comments were limited to use of the phrase "ping pong" or "ping ping" or whatever as some officilly trademarked name for tabletennis & how it effects the worldwide image & not just within China only. You obviously want to ignore the fact that Spanish,Portuguese, Swedes, French, Germans etc use the proper phrase of tabletennis in their own languages.
I see that you will continue on insisting that Far East Asians must continue to use a childish sounding name like "ping pong" & not much I can do about it if you want to go in circles over &over.
.

Dude you are way over analyzing this. Far east Asians have no intent of making it purposely sound childish or any other agenda. They just call it PP because it was a cute sounding name and it stuck. There is no underlying agenda to change the image of TT or PP. Just as simple as that.

 

[OldUser]

It is no different than you & DukeGaGa etc adamently refusing to accept the fact that Far East Asian countries could be using the proper name for the "sport" of tabletennis in their language just as the Swedes, Germans, French, Spanish / Protuguese etc do in their own languages.
It is no different than you & DukeGaGa etc refusing to admit the simple fact that the phrase Ping Pong makes TableTennis sound like a silly basement "game" and not a sport. Stuart even pointed out that it even makes it sound like a children's game.
As I said it is the ITTF .It is not IPPF.
If you far east Asians still insist on using a childish name for a sport and nagate all the great work you do for promoting the sport, by creating a bad image, there is not much i can say about that.

Ok mistanoitol'

As a french I totally refute your allegation, and it's the proof of your rampant ignorance and lack of culture about the World: here in France yeah the "official" name is "Table Tennis", but as I've mentioned, many official clubs involved in official FFTT leagues have named themselves Ping Pong Clubs or even Association Sportive de ... Pongistes.

When you want to name a volley ball player in France, is a "Volleyeur" (Volleyer), a football player a "Footballeur" (footballer), a handballplayer a handballeur, a basket ball player a "Basketteur". And ther's also the genre according to those names for women: footballeuse, basketteuse, handballeuse.

And a table tennis player is named a "pongiste", same name for both men and women, because it's way more obvious for people to understand what it's all about when they read an article on sports news. Table Tennis is the official name yeah .. sure... but in people's mind, like in China, it's Ping Pong, because it reminds something way more popular. Table Tennis started being popular with Ping Pong brand, it's history, denying this history is simply ignorance.

We also call refrigerator, or a fridge, a "frigidaire" or even a "frigo", guess what ? those were popular brands names. By the way, Frigidaire was a trade mark of General Motors, as a french, I also respect the US engineering history. And Frigo was a spanish trade mark for ice creams brought in 1927 by Unilever group.

 

[James Z]

here in France yeah the "official" name is "Table Tennis",

Thank you

official clubs involved in official FFTT leagues have named themselves Ping Pong Clubs

That is THE huge problem. Admitting the problem and not being in denial is a HUGE first step towards cure

Happy New Year 2023

 

[DukeGaGa]

Thank you

That is THE huge problem. Admitting the problem and not being in denial is a HUGE first step towards cure

Happy New Year 2023

Yeah, admit it’s your problem and everyone will rejoice.

 

[OldUser]

Thank you

That is THE huge problem. Admitting the problem and not being in denial is a HUGE first step towards cure

Happy New Year 2023

So you're telling a whole country they've got a problem naming themselves Ping Pong Clubs ? and you want people to use your ping pong stuff ? starting with insults like thess won't help your "business" man...

Because the vast majority of french clubs actually use the PPC acronym or Pongistes name.

But hey, mistanoitol', are you gonna tell us that you're also a mass psychiatrist ? yeah because talking about a whole country being in denial, maaan... you're obviously trying to compensate for something that goes wrong in your life by trying to show yourself as a big man, in France we call this "complexe de Napoléon".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_complex

 

[OldUser]

UP and please can someone ban Nova for his spams ?

 

[James Z]

So you're telling a whole country they've got a problem naming themselves Ping Pong Clubs ? and you want people to use your ping pong stuff ? starting with insults like thess won't help your "business" man...

Because the vast majority of french clubs actually use the PPC acronym or Pongistes name.

But hey, mistanoitol', are you gonna tell us that you're also a mass psychiatrist ? yeah because talking about a whole country being in denial, maaan... you're obviously trying to compensate for something that goes wrong in your life by trying to show yourself as a big man, in France we call this "complexe de Napoléon".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_complex

I have already explained this three or four times but you & few others just ignore it & just go in circles.

I am not talking about what the name is now I am not questioning it. It does not matter how many countries use it.
My point still is that the Official phrase is Tennis de Table in France

But if you (& everyone else) want to keep insisting that everyone should keep using pongiste or ping ping or whatever childish nonsense you use to continue to tarnish the image of the sport to a silly childish game, go ahead & enjoy.

Of course if you have made up your mind that it is not a problem for whatever wrong reason, then there is not much I can say about it.

 

[Jslick89]

this thread is funny as it is essentially 4 pages of arguing over semantics. As an american player....i can tell you we joke around in the club about calling it TT and not PP. However, i hope we can all admit that PING PONG is fun to say. For me, PING PONG sounds sort of like the sound the ball makes in a nice rally! Not exactly the same but almost an Onomatopoeia, if i may.

I can tell you this, it is my opinion that is is NOT the name that is holding the sport back in any country (IE, the USA). It's just a cultural thing and probably price/accessibility. Soccer/football is loved around the world because of its accessibility.

In brazil, you can play soccer in the streets for the poorest neighborhoods. any round shaped object could be used as a ball and any number of public spaces and small objects can be used to create a field and goals. The sport is accessible to the poorest of players, thus the talent pool to draw from is the largest since no once is excluded from accessing the sport. It's no surprise that brazil produces some of the best soccer players in the world and has been doing so for a long time.

In the United States- basketball is the more accessible sport. Even the poorest neighborhoods have parks with basketball courts. They might be run down, with no nets, cracks on the concrete court, and the ball might be old with hardly any grip, but the sport is still playable in even the poorest of neighborhoods. That is why the United States produces the best basketball players in the world. The talent pool is so large to choose from.

now we turn to TT (or PP, hehe). This sport is EXPENSIVE to play in the United States. Just as an average club player, I am spending a decent amount of money on this sport. At least $50 a month on club fees. Paddles. Rubbers. Coaching lessons. I've invested more than the average club player, but my expenses are nothing to the amount children at the academies in the bay area are paying to become the best players in this state and country. Group lessons every day and multiple private lessons a week can easily add up to $1,000 a month to play this sport at a high level. Until the USA can figure out how to reduce the costs of this sport and make it more accessible to everyone, we will not be producing too much of the top talent in the world, Kanak Jha and Lily Zhang aside.

Just my two cents. Have fun playing this SPORT that we all love and hold dear to our hearts. that is the most important thing. not the name.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

this thread is funny as it is essentially 4 pages of arguing over semantics. As an american player....i can tell you we joke around in the club about calling it TT and not PP. However, i hope we can all admit that PING PONG is fun to say. For me, PING PONG sounds sort of like the sound the ball makes in a nice rally! Not exactly the same but almost an Onomatopoeia, if i may.

I can tell you this, it is my opinion that is is NOT the name that is holding the sport back in any country (IE, the USA). It's just a cultural thing and probably price/accessibility. Soccer/football is loved around the world because of its accessibility.

In brazil, you can play soccer in the streets for the poorest neighborhoods. any round shaped object could be used as a ball and any number of public spaces and small objects can be used to create a field and goals. The sport is accessible to the poorest of players, thus the talent pool to draw from is the largest since no once is excluded from accessing the sport. It's no surprise that brazil produces some of the best soccer players in the world and has been doing so for a long time.

In the United States- basketball is the more accessible sport. Even the poorest neighborhoods have parks with basketball courts. They might be run down, with no nets, cracks on the concrete court, and the ball might be old with hardly any grip, but the sport is still playable in even the poorest of neighborhoods. That is why the United States produces the best basketball players in the world. The talent pool is so large to choose from.

now we turn to TT (or PP, hehe). This sport is EXPENSIVE to play in the United States. Just as an average club player, I am spending a decent amount of money on this sport. At least $50 a month on club fees. Paddles. Rubbers. Coaching lessons. I've invested more than the average club player, but my expenses are nothing to the amount children at the academies in the bay area are paying to become the best players in this state and country. Group lessons every day and multiple private lessons a week can easily add up to $1,000 a month to play this sport at a high level. Until the USA can figure out how to reduce the costs of this sport and make it more accessible to everyone, we will not be producing too much of the top talent in the world, Kanak Jha and Lily Zhang aside.

Just my two cents. Have fun playing this SPORT that we all love and hold dear to our hearts. that is the most important thing. not the name.

In my country, badminton is the de-facto National Sport. Kids & adults play it Irregardless of income level, status or creed. You will see kids from high end residential enclave play it as well as kids from the poorest villages far away from the capital, at the very far corner of my country. Some will just tie a string across two coconut trees and start hitting the shuttlecork back and forth. And my nation has been producing world champions in badminton since our founding. I guess it is always the same. When a nation is good at a certain sport, it is the same, meaning the game has to be loved as a nation wholly.

Nothing stops my nation than our champion battling it out for the gold medal, be it in the Olympics, World Championship etc. The whole country will come to a stand still. Be it the CEO of a large cooperation or the common GRAB delivery person, all will put everything down and watch the match.

 

[Jslick89]

In my country, badminton is the de-facto National Sport. Kids & adults play it Irregardless of income level, status or creed. You will see kids from high end residential enclave play it as well as kids from the poorest villages far away from the capital, at the very far corner of my country. Some will just tie a string across two coconut trees and start hitting the shuttlecork back and forth. And my nation has been producing world champions in badminton since our founding. I guess it is always the same. When a nation is good at a certain sport, it is the same, meaning the game has to be loved as a nation wholly.

Nothing stops my nation than our champion battling it out for the gold medal, be it in the Olympics, World Championship etc. The whole country will come to a stand still. Be it the CEO of a large cooperation or the common GRAB delivery person, all will put everything down and watch the match.

love it. Until table tennis / ping pong becomes nationally loved here in the united states, we will be missing out on so much undiscovered talent. Also the price point argument. It's simply not accessible for the low income (yet high potential youth) to excel in this sport.

 

[Gtsnake]

I don't agree with the access theory. Yes, soccer is a very easy game to pick up and learn. It's got simple rules and can be played almost anywhere. But if you go to China there are PP tables everywhere. Outside in parks, in every school from preschool to Universities, community centers and work places. There's no reason why it can't be the same situation in the US.

 

[Jslick89]

I don't agree with the access theory. Yes, soccer is a very easy game to pick up and learn. It's got simple rules and can be played almost anywhere. But if you go to China there are PP tables everywhere. Outside in parks, in every school from preschool to Universities, community centers and work places. There's no reason why it can't be the same situation in the US.

You actually just proved my point. In China, there are tables everywhere, as you say. It's EASY access to the sport. Where are the table here in the United States? Rarely in a park, or at a school. Some community centers have them, but not all.

I agree that there is no reason why it CAN'T be the same, but the fact is, it is currently NOT the same. There is no simple access for youth here in the USA.

 

[Gtsnake]

You actually just proved my point. In China, there are tables everywhere, as you say. It's EASY access to the sport. Where are the table here in the United States? Rarely in a park, or at a school. Some community centers have them, but not all.

I agree that there is no reason why it CAN'T be the same, but the fact is, it is currently NOT the same. There is no simple access for youth here in the USA.

But what comes first? The parks put out equipment only if there's a demand. If there's no demand then they wouldn't spend the money and effort to acquire them.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

love it. Until table tennis / ping pong becomes nationally loved here in the united states, we will be missing out on so much undiscovered talent. Also the price point argument. It's simply not accessible for the low income (yet high potential youth) to excel in this sport.

US of A already has basketball, baseball and American Football. Don't be greedy....😜

 

[Jslick89]

But what comes first? The parks put out equipment only if there's a demand. If there's no demand then they wouldn't spend the money and effort to acquire them.

In capitalisms, the demand has to come first otherwise they would be no incentive to supply. Like Gozo has said, the USA already has other sports that are nationally loved. It's not going to work out here, unfortunately. Personally, I think it's sad because this is such a great sport. Not to mention much safer and better on the body (thus can be enjoyed much longer) than the NFL or basketball even.

 

[DukeGaGa]

I don’t think the availability is an issue here in the states. A lot more people can afford to buy or rent houses here compared to China, and there are two very common things you see in houses here, pool tables and ping pong tables , some times both . So availability wise it’s actually a lot better here if you factor in the population: a neighborhood of 500 houses in the states, let’s say only 10% of them have ping pong tables (we all know it’s a lot more than 10%), that’s 50 tables. A neighborhood in China of 500 apartment units might get 5 tables at the community center gym, 5 more at the local park that’s shared with other close by neighborhoods. You do the math.

 

[Gtsnake]

In capitalisms, the demand has to come first otherwise they would be no incentive to supply. Like Gozo has said, the USA already has other sports that are nationally loved. It's not going to work out here, unfortunately. Personally, I think it's sad because this is such a great sport. Not to mention much safer and better on the body (thus can be enjoyed much longer) than the NFL or basketball even.

Yes, so since the demand isn't there in the US therefore the parks and community centers won't have the tables.

 

[Dimitri]

I was introduced to the game in high school by one of my closest friend's family, they are Chinese. Everyone in his family called it ping pong and a number of them played competitive back in China. To me ping pong and table tennis are the same game just different name just like some refer to association football as soccer. In Australia we have our national game of AFL where it is widely referred to as football and as such association football is referred to as soccer to differentiate.