OT Names

[Roger Pugh]

On 1 Jul 2009, at 02:39, Warren Wolfe wrote:

> Jochen Kunz wrote:
>> My all time favorit: Mitsubishi Pajero.
>> They soled that car under this name in parts of the world where 
>> spanish
>> is spoken. Not noticing that "pajero" in spanish means "wanker". They
>> where surprised that the car didn't sell well. When they noticed the
>> mistake they renamed the car to Montero.
>
> Excellent.  The Chevy Nova had similar problems in Mexico.  Finally, 
> someone noticed that that translated as Chevrolet doesn't go.
>
> Now we have the Nova awards, for bad translations in advertisements.  
> I'm a language buff, and I truly love them.  They are usually English 
> ---> Spanish translations, because many people THINK they know simple 
> Spanish, but have no idea of actual usage.  For example, anyone in the 
> U.S. will recognize the "Got Milk" posters, usually with a famous 
> person with milk on their upper lip, advertising drinking milk.  
> Somebody wanted to set this up in Mexico, and translated the phrase as 
> "?Tienes leche?"  Makes perfect high-school Spanish sense.  However, 
> that phrase actually translates as "Are you lactating?"  Awkward.
>

To continue the Automotive theme..

Mitsubishi Starion was reputedly supposed to be called the Stallion but 
the marketing dept in Japan had told the Australians marketing dept by 
phone.  By the time the mistake was noticed in Japan it was too late 
and so the name was kept!

Also the Toyota MR2 sports car when pronounced in french sounds very 
much like Toyota Merde (Toyota sh1t)


Roger