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In the 2014 film “The Other Woman”, there is an exchange between several characters

Phil: Who's this?

Carmela: I'm Carmela, Kate's decorator.

Phil: Oh. Really? When did you fire Joel?

Kate: Joel? No, I didn't. No, he's, um... She's doing all of the stuff in the... on the feng shui in the house. Remember? Um, we met in Hong Kong... I told you...

Carmela: Yeah, we bonded over dim sum and spatial reasoning.

Phil: Two of my favorite things.

Carmela: That's so smart and funny. That's really witty.

Kate: Ha-ha. That's funny. So, um, this is my brother. Remember? - And he's a contractor.
- Oh, a contractor. Oh.
He's gonna go look at the office while you go...

Phil: Unless you want to stay... I mean, you could help me check things out.

Carmela: I would love to, actually, but it's kind of a tricky project. And I don't want to complicate things, so... But it was really nice meeting you, so...

Phil: Yeah, you, too. I hope I see you again soon.

Kate: Carmela? Really? Did you and Tony have fun living in Hong Kong? Or did Big Pussy and Meadow miss you too much?

Carmela: You know what? You're gonna thank me for using a fake name. You don't want Phil mentioning to Mark about your new friend Carly, do you? No, you don't, so you are welcome.

What did Kate mean?

Please note: English is not my native language, so the simpler and clearer you can make your explanation, the better

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It's a reference to the show "The Sopranos." She means that the name "Carmela" makes her friend sound like a member of a New Jersey mafia family. "Big Pussy" and "Meadow" are also names of characters from the same show. The reason for the joke is that the name "Carmela" is relatively unusual and most people would know it primarily from the show.

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  • Yep. As I found out in time :)
    – mplungjan
    Sep 15, 2014 at 14:22
  • Should have know I wouldn't be able to get this answer in before someone else got to it! Oh well, I'll leave it, it has some additional info in it that the OP might find helpful.
    – Chris Sunami
    Sep 15, 2014 at 14:22
  • Interestingly enough I initially had no idea since I have never seen The Sopranos
    – mplungjan
    Sep 15, 2014 at 14:23
  • I actually never saw it either, but it had a pretty big cultural footprint. The name "Big Pussy," in particular, was unforgettable.
    – Chris Sunami
    Sep 15, 2014 at 14:36
  • In any case, I added the "Really?" explanation too
    – mplungjan
    Sep 15, 2014 at 14:36
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It's a reference to her fake name. Cameron's character is named Carly Whitten

The Really? is a sarcastic expression meaning

You did not seriously choose that specific name now, did you?

Kate then refers to the Carmela which is the wife of Tony in The Sopranos.

Meadow is their daughter

Big Pussy is the nickname of Sal Bonpensiero, also from the series.

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