The 2008 Olympic Game mascots have been renamed from the "Friendlies" to "Fuwa" due to concerns the original name may have caused confusion, Beijing Star Daily reports.

The 2008 Olympic Game mascots-"Fuwa" (Photo source: xinhua)

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) has officially announced the change of name on its website, but Olympic ads and products using the mascots will continue to use the original name in the short term.

The suitability of the mascots' name has been the subject of heated debate since the Friendlies were unveiled to the public.

Dr Li from Lanzhou University in the Gansu Province was the first critic to skewer the name. He claimed "friendlies" is too ambiguous a title for the mascots, as it refers to friendly people as well as the friendship games. He also objected to the title on the grounds that it is too similar to words and phrases with negative connotations, like "friendless" and "friend lies".

Dr Li proposed three alternative names to BOCOG, including Forworld, Forward and Forwords. He said Forworld stands for the slogan, "One World, One Dream", claiming it is true to the Olympic slogan "Faster, Higher, Braver". Foreign experts and netizens also approved of Forwards because they liked its meaning and the way it is pronounced in Chinese, fuwazi.

The committee rejected all of these suggestions, opting instead to rename the mascots "Fuwa". Standing for happiness, prosperity, health, good luck and inspiration, the new name symbolises the Chinese people's wishes for the people of the world.

The change of name has received a lot of approval and support.

1. The 2008 Beijing Olympic mascots in their original incarnation as the five Friendlies.

2. The revamped Beijing Olympic mascots, the Fuwa, meaning happiness, prosperity, health, good luck and inspiration.

Editor: Yan