[bilked]

Here's where Toronto's (and the world's) multiculturalism kicks in: Anyone who can't handle the fact the name means one thing in one language and something in another
42

Agreed. And this sort of thing does indeed happen in multicultural Toronto all the time. Take Kensington Market's "Kos Restaurant", obviously named after the Greek Island. Don't ask a Persian what comes to mind..

Plus the fact that this "Bisha" is spelled "sh" (notwithstanding how they are pronounced) should be enough to avoid most of the giggles and snickering. Had they been spelled it the same, yes, I suspect someone on his team would have had a shit shat with him about it.

 

[Light]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisha'a
All Truth Tellers should be offended if they stay at the Bisha Hotel because Bisha is a ritual practiced by the Bedouin tribes as a form of lie detection where no witnesses were present.

"The basic ritual consists of the accused being asked to lick a hot metal object (spoon, ladle, rod, etc.) thrice. He is provided with water for rinsing after the ceremony. He is then inspected by the official who presides over the ceremony - the Mubesha (or Mubasha) and by the designated witnesses of the ritual. If the person undergoing the ritual is found to have a scarred or burnt tongue, it is concluded that he was lying. The Howeitat Bedouin call this ritual "the true light of God". "

Bisha is also a town in Saudi Arabia.

This reminds me of the case some years ago when a small U.S. town took issue with the name of a new Japanese restaurant in town because it contains the word "fuku" (meaning blessings and pronounced "Foo-Koo"), and some uninformed folks complained about it.

It's a reality that we're going to run into unfortunate coincidences in pronunciations as the world becomes more cosmopolitan. And speaking of Japanese dining, no one frets about why so many delicious Japanese menu items are "yaki" (which resembles "yucky"), or that "shiitake" mushrooms are common ingredients in Asian cuisine (pronounced She-ii-Ta-Kay, but many still unknowingly mispronounce it).

I was unaware of the Bisha/"bi-cha"/"bi-sha" coincidences, but I am sure if I were to stay/dine there, their name would not even be an issue. It might make for a fun little factoid in conversation.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

I don't know about in Portuguese, but it is worth noting that Bicha in Spanish is fairly lax and liberal in its usage. Could vary between "annoying bug/insect" (could be an annoying person) to "queer". (and I would say that the former usage is waaaay more common than the latter)

It wouldn't be exactly nice, but you could even call your own kids that way if they are being exceedingly annoying.

 

[Ramako]

This reminds me of the case some years ago when a small U.S. town took issue with the name of a new Japanese restaurant in town because it contains the word "fuku" (meaning blessings and pronounced "Foo-Koo"), and some uninformed folks complained about it.

It's a reality that we're going to run into unfortunate coincidences in pronunciations as the world becomes more cosmopolitan. And speaking of Japanese dining, no one frets about why so many delicious Japanese menu items are "yaki" (which resembles "yucky"), or that "shiitake" mushrooms are common ingredients in Asian cuisine (pronounced She-ii-Ta-Kay, but many still unknowingly mispronounce it).

Speaking of which, Fukui Sushi on Bayview is quite good.

 

[MetroMan]

Anyone who can't handle the fact the name means one thing in one language and something in another language is an immature asshole

42

Was that really necessary? Way to set an example for the forum as an Urban Toronto administrator. I’m disappointed in you.

 

[bilked]

Was that really necessary? Way to set an example for the forum as an Urban Toronto administrator. I’m disappointed in you.

I had understood that i42 was saying that people who would be turned off from staying at Bisha because of that phonetic similarity are assholes, not that you were one for pointing this out. It's certainly an interesting observation, though I respectfully think the concern that the hotel would somehow become attached to this association is overstated in your post.

 

[someMidTowner]

Lobby bar is open: https://www.instagram.com/misterctoronto/?hl=en

 

[Edward Skira]

 

[Contra]

The first 8 or so stories of this are pretty nice but it really starts to get boring in the tower portion.

 

[junctionist]

The first 8 or so stories of this are pretty nice but it really starts to get boring in the tower portion.

Or downright ugly if you see it from Spadina.

 

[ProjectEnd]

Yeah, it's hard to criticize the east facade (the best one and hardly offensive), knowing what lies around back.

 

[Contra]

Was such an odd decision to clad the elevator core like they did...not even "fake" glass with some relflection.

 

[cd concept]

I have so say there's alot of bad looking buildings going up! If there going to use clear glass window facades. Then they should make it mandatory to use dark looking drapery to tone down or blend in with the facade not white !

 

[interchange42]

Akira Back, the signature restaurant at Bisha, is open. Here's the Toronto Life article.

42

 

[ponyboy]

This slender brick building adds visual interest to this corner. If and when it is replaced with a condo on the corner, this area will look a lot more sterile. In my view, we need rules with teeth to create distinctive frontages of new buildings that offer smaller and narrower commercial spaces and using a variety of materials.