Ka-Ching, Ching-a-Ling, Cheerio Ching, and More

My work is launching a new system on March 8, and all of us have gone through intensive training—adding a certain level of stress to everyone. Yesterday, when I messaged a coworker who is also one of the trainers, to my surprise, she called me "Cheerio Ching"! I replied, "Ka-Ching, Ka-Ching—your money!" She laughed and said, "You’re a funny lady." And so, we shared some laughter in our chat.

I didn’t ask her why she called me "Cheerio Ching," but I liked it. It rhymes with Cheerios, the cereal brand, and "cheer" is such a positive word. Maybe it’s not just because it starts with "C," like my name, Ching, but also because I’ve been trying to stay optimistic and work hard during training. I later found out that "cheerio" is a British English interjection meaning "goodbye" or "goodbye and good luck."

"Cheerio Ching"! I like it!

When I introduce myself, I always say, "Just think of ‘Ka-Ching, Ka-Ching!’ like winning money from a slot machine." People always laugh and never forget my name. Funny enough, I actually didn’t know what "Ka-Ching" meant at first—until one time, after my introduction, someone immediately exclaimed, "Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching!" And that’s when I embraced it.

I’ve also been called "Ching-a-Ling" and "Ching Ching." I don’t think the first one has any specific meaning, but it sounds adorable. As for "Ching Ching," in Chinese, repeating a name is often used as a nickname for children or between lovers, which makes me feel a bit shy. The person who calls me that is an adorable girlfriend, so I know it's just for fun.

"Ching" is the direct translation of my Chinese name "青" (I was originally named Ching Hsia, 青霞, but knowing that "Hsia" is tricky for Westerners to pronounce, I just went with Ching). "青" means the color green. So far, I’ve only met a few people named Ching, but one of them had "晴" instead—pronounced with a rising tone, meaning "sunny day." Though they sound different in Chinese, their English spelling is the same. "晴" has "日" (sun) in its character, and I have to admit, I’m a little jealous! My father, who named me, owes me that one!

Each nickname represents a different phase of my life with different people. I find that amazing, so I wanted to write it all down. Thank you for the memories—and the ones still to come. I wonder what my name will turn into next?