Because most of the phonetic systems used are based on the Roman alphabet, they have been jokingly dubbed "Arhat's feet" [a pun on luohanchiao (" bachelor ") meaning the feet of an Arhat (Buddhist monk ready to pass into Nirvana), or a combination of luo (romanization), han (Chinese characters), and chiao (annotation)].
由於選擇的拼音文字以羅馬拼音法為主，因而被戲稱為「羅漢腳」。