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[YZ]

A German car named "white power"? a product whose name is pronounced "I Beat Blacks"? this and much more unfortunately real stuff at:

 http://www.11points.com/Misc/11_Accidentally_Racist_Product_ and_Company_Names

[Edvaard]

Yeah, damn all these people whose own native language falls short of the mark in being up to the standards of the English language when spoken as their own language, in every instance. Good thing us English speakers are around to point to the error of their ways, just as we have been doing for centuries. Not to fret, they'll get it into their system one of these days.

PS

It is also clear that Americans absolutely hate Germans, and wish them to be exterminated, because of their use of the term "gift," slyly trying to pawn this off as some 'nice' term, but knowing all the time that in German, this is the word for 'poison.' I mean, we all know that, don't we?


PPS


I should say that I am glad for the little bit of Spanish courses I've had, and the Honduran woman I had the pleasure to work with at one time, whereupon I learned the term "Frijole Negro," which, if we are to understand things correctly here, means "Ni**er Beans."

[YZ]

1- the post was in jest;

2- English is not _my_ native language;

3- most of the products shown were intended for the US market; the Nigaz Nigerian Gas Co. is an exception.

[Edvaard]

As always YZ, I just go off on some tangent, and not meaning to attack you personally.

I know full well your own understanding of things, and even with disagreement on some items, I always read your words with as much comprehension as possible.

Your native language be not English, but your understanding of affairs is not lost on anyone possessing at least half a brain.

I might disagree with some things you say, but the different perspective is invaluable to me, as I hope it is to others.

[YZ]

Edvaard wrote on Thu, 10 June 2010 23:31

As always YZ, I just go off on some tangent, and not meaning to attack you personally.

I didn't see you reply as a personal attack. How could it be seen as that?

[PRobb]

GM tried to sell the Chevy Nova in Latin America and nobody told them that in Spanish, "no va" means "it doesn't go".

[YZ]

PRobb wrote on Fri, 11 June 2010 11:14

GM tried to sell the Chevy Nova in Latin America and nobody told them that in Spanish, "no va" means "it doesn't go".

Not true.

http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

However...

Here In Brazil in the late 1960s Ford was preparing to launch a locally designed car and the Brazilian branch had already chosen a name in line with the "horse" naming scheme; it was a Brazilian horse name.
Detroit insisted to name it "Pinto" because it was aimed at a similar market to the US Ford Pinto and they wanted to keep the logic of having the same name for similar cars aimed at similar demographics - which makes some sense in a corporate sort of way - and were deaf to the protests of their Brazilian fellows who claimed the need for a name that had some meaning to the potential buyers.

At one point, the Brazilian head of marketing got tired of 'going around the bush' and being polite and made a phone call to the US HQ, notifying them that "Pinto" here means the male reproductive organ, in kid's speak, and that the proposed name, "Corcel" was the local equivalent horse name.

This was told by the then head of marketing himself in an interview to a Brazilian car magazine a couple of years ago.

[Electric Warrior]

Mitsubishi Pajero is another car name gone wrong:  http://chameleon-translations.com/Index-Companies-pajero.sht ml

[YZ]

Yes, that's why in some markets it is named "Montero".

Here the KIA van "Besta" was quite successful, even though a large number of owners defaced or removed the nameplates...  "Besta" could mean "strong load-carrying animal", which is in disuse since the early 1920s, or "Idiot"...

Anyway, it sold well enough to displace the old Volkswagen Kombi form its comfortable leadership and pave the way to several other similar vehicles to come to our market.

Guess what VW did? next to nothing, they still make here the pre-1979 Kombi model...  and complain about losing market share.

[KB_S1]

Electric Warrior wrote on Fri, 11 June 2010 17:38

Mitsubishi Pajero is another car name gone wrong:   http://chameleon-translations.com/Index-Companies-pajero.sht ml

Always been the Shogun here. No idea why.

[YZ]

Nothing sucks like an Electrolux...

[el duderino]

not entirely sure its true but the guy i heard it from is a big time IT geek so imo its quite possible.

a few years ago a japanese company made some type of server/file system that raised the bar to petaflops. they wanted to market it as the file system solution for large companies.

well, they debuted it at some trade show in the US and once unveiled everyone saw in big letters on the front its name:PETA FILE.

im told it was promptly changed.

[Berolzheimer]

YZ wrote on Fri, 11 June 2010 19:32

Nothing sucks like an Electrolux...

A friend's dad worked for Sunbeam.  He used to say, "the only things Sunbeam makes that don't suck are the vacuum cleaners."