natto

I’m sure we’d all like to think that our friends and loved ones smile whenever they see our names pop up on their phones, and that each text message or email appears alongside a cute nickname or something informal and loving. But if you caught sight of your better half’s mobile phone screen while you were calling them and “Stinky Soy Beans” popped up, you might not be too pleased.

Over at My Navi News Q&A — a service not unlike Yahoo! Answers which, as we saw yesterday, can yield some pretty interesting responses of its own —  a 26-year-old woman in Japan shared her worries after discovering that her boyfriend had entered her name on his smartphone as “nattō: GM Free”, fermented soybeans renown and hated by many for their strong smell and extremely gooey texture.

▼The curious complaint online

Nayami

“I’m a 26-year-old woman.

My boyfriend’s mobile phone was lying on the table the other day. Long story short, I looked to see how he’d entered my name in his address book and noticed that in place of my name it said ‘Natto: made from non-GM soybeans’.

I was pretty annoyed, so to get back at him I decided I’d switch his name in my phone to some random food. If you have any ideas, please let me know.”

Not the most common nickname ever, we’ll give you that, Soy-chan. But at least he thinks of you as being extremely good for the body and, even better, pure and devoid of any additives and GM interference. It could be worse; he could have listed you as “Village bike” or simply “Don’t Answer”. And if you will go snooping around in other people’s phones, perhaps a little surprise like this is in order?

Having only ever looked at a(n ex) girlfriend’s mobile phone once and discovered something that I then wished I hadn’t, this writer’s advice to you all, as this Q & A user probably now understands, is that sometimes it’s better not to know…

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[ Read in Japanese ]