Tiki Tiki Tembo...

Tikki Tikki Tembo
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Tikki Tikki Tembo is a story set in ancient China that provided the basis for a 1968 book by Arlene Mosel, illustrated by Blair Lent, aimed at children from Kindergarten to Grade 2. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this retelling is severely incorrect about some aspects of Chinese culture, so questions have arisen as to the story's origins and validity.

The story is about a family with two sons, in which the first-born and honoured son gets a long name and the other son gets a short name (by tradition, according to the story). The first born son's full name is Tikki Tikki Tembo No Sa Rembo Chari Bari Ruchi Pip Peri Pembo, which, according to the story, means "the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world." The second son's name is Chang, which means "little or nothing" in the story.

Other versions of the name are: Rikki Tikki instead of Tikki Tikki (not to be confused with Rikki-Tikki-Tavi) and Nikki Nikki Tembo No So Rembo Oo Ma Moochi Gamma Gamma Goochi.

In reality, all of Tikki Tikki Tembo's names are gibberish, not actual Chinese, and there is no Chinese dialect in which "Chang" means "little or nothing". Likewise, the idea that first-born sons used to get long names and other children hardly any is not an accurate portrayal of the culture. Some suggest it is actually a take-off on a Japanese story - the presence of several R's and absence of L's, and the occurrence of syllables ending in 'o' and the combination 'uchi', in Tikki Tikki Tembo's full name suggests a Japanese rather than Chinese influence - but it does not accurately reflect Japanese culture, either.