A pork-filled bun called Goubuli, which translates to ‘dog won’t eat it,’ sells like hotcakes. Now the Tianjin Goubuli Catering Group, a 149-year-old snack producer in northern China, is hoping to win the trademark for its new English name, Go Believe.

The logic behind choosing Go Believe is that it apparently sounds very much like its Mandarin name which means ‘dog won’t eat it.’

Mi A’qian, an attorney with the Goubuli Group said, ‘It’s still not known whether any other individual or group has applied to the office for the English name. It usually takes four to five months to receive a final decision.’

Zhang Yansen, board chairperson with the Goubuli Group, said in a newspaper interview that the meaning of the English name ‘fits very well’ with the company’s business aim. He said, ‘Honesty is the thing we insist on.

The company’s bizarre Chinese name came, in part, from the nickname Gouzai (Puppy) that was given to the firm’s founder. In 1858, Hebei Province native Gouzai opened his own bun booth in Tianjin after working for years as a trainee at a local dim sum booth.

He became so busy at the shop and had no time to speak with customers, who complained ‘Gouzai sells buns but does not speak to people.’ The saying was then shorten to Goubuli, which means ‘Gouzai does not speak to people.’ Or ‘the dog won’t eat it.’ Depending on which story you would like to believe.
Source: Shanghai Daily