Why is Edward Newgate called Whitebeard?

Question

Why do they call him "Whitebeard"?

He doesn't even have a beard!

Whitebeard

Language - I love it. In some languages, that's called a beard, too, for example German (Schnurr*bart*, Oberlippen*bart*). — looper, Feb 19 '13 at 11:20
Imagine the disaster if they call him "WHITEMOUSTACHE".. lol — maseru, Aug 31 '13 at 04:06
@maseru For laughs, here you can read the disaster on [a page from chapter 133](http://i.stack.imgur.com/WfTSi.jpg), where the name originally was translated as "moustache" as in "The Black Moustache Pirates destroyed Drum island." — Peter Raeves, Jun 24 '15 at 21:11

score 53 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 19 '13 at 11:07

53

Edward Newgate's nickname in Japanese is Shirohige (shiro = white, hige = facial hair). Japanese does not distinguish between beard and moustache¹. However, a literal translation White Facial Hair sounds a pretty poor nickname for one of the World's strongest pirates, and even sounds comedic. Whitemoustache isn't much better either. Whitebeard has a nice ring to it.

Also, fairy-tail's Lucy's nickname for the Celestial Spirit King is "hige-oyaji" (translated as moustache-man, in context), and he has only a moustache, which suggests that "hige" is used to refer to both moustache and beard in Japanese.

^{1: Google Translate says that "Beard" is "Agohige", and "Moustache" is "Kuchihige". However, they did not call him "Shirokuchihige" in the original, so the distinction seems to be not widely used.}

edited Feb 19 '13 at 11:07

Alenanno

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answered Feb 17 '13 at 13:42

Masked Man

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`However, a literal translation "White Facial Hair"` lol, +1 just for that – SingerOfTheFall Feb 21 '13 at 05:28
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i think also the decision to use Whitebeard in translation was also reinforced by Blackbeard, a well known pirate, after all, you can't really have a pirate series without some sort of reference too him, even if it's a change to the first part of his name – Memor-X Dec 03 '13 at 21:16

score 14 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 17 '13 at 17:06

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Why is Blackbeard called Blackbeard when he only has perma-stubble? Whitebeard´s flawless mustache is manlier than a thousand normal beards.

And I quote:

A beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin, upper lip, cheeks and neck of human beings.

A mustache is also a beard.

edited Feb 17 '13 at 17:06

Madara's Ghost

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answered Feb 17 '13 at 13:09

Christian Aurig Frøkjær

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*"A mustache is also a beard"* - We all know that's not true; that definition is just poor... – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft Feb 17 '13 at 21:47
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This definition (from Wikipedia) says it grows on the chin, lip, cheeks, AND neck. I believe that means simultaneously, especially given their [first image of it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Incredibeard.jpg). xD – Cattua Feb 17 '13 at 23:26
strong beard dont grow on chins, they move to the upper levels. – animenix Nov 01 '19 at 04:05

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 27 '14 at 02:28

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When the manga was being fan-translated, the translator left a note about how the name in japanese could be translated as white mustache or white beard. His words went something like, "Who wants to be White Mustach when you can be White Beard."

answered Feb 27 '14 at 02:28

adrimi7

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Why is Edward Newgate called Whitebeard?

3 Answers3