FAST FRED
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 6:30 am: | |
From: Walter Levy (wlevyATcomcast.net)
Subject: Prelude
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/prelude.html
This word reminded me of a vanity license plate I saw years ago,
NFUGUE, which puzzled me greatly until I noticed that the car to which
it was affixed was a PRELUDE. Turns out the owner was a classical
musician.
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From: Keen James (kkj2323ATcox.net)
Subject: car names
Columnist Russell Baker suggested, once, that there would be fewer
collisions if the manufacturers would assign less aggressive names
to their cars, such as Kittens, Bunny Rabbits, and Feather Dusters.
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From: Jay Meadors (svrfsvpATyahoo.com)
Subject: Car Names
Here are some of the names that poet Marianne Moore came up with when
asked by Ford Motor Company to name a new car, which ultimately was
called the Edsel: Resilient Bullet, Utopian Tutletop, Pastelogram,
Mongoose Civique, Andante con Moto, and the Varsity Stroke 3.
None of those made the cut, so the name of Henry Ford's son was used,
and disappointment ran rampant throughout the automotive world.
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From: Paul Cowan (pooruATmac.com)
Subject: Camry
Certainly Camry is an anagram of "my car", but that's not where the name
came from. It's from the Japanese kanmuri meaning crown. Thus, with the
Toyota Crown and the Corona, there have been three Toyotas with the same
name. In fact four, if, as I surmise, Corolla is a little crown.
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From: Robert Zimmerman (robert.zimmermanATlmco.com)
Subject: Anagrammatic Car Names
My wife and I have speculated on vehicle names before. One day, while
waiting in traffic behind a new VW SUV, I began toying with the car's
name, and discovered that Touareg is an anagram for - OUTRAGE!
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From: MJ Vaile (jesilu25AThotmail.com)
Subject: Subaru
Ever noticed that SUBARU backwards is U R A Bus (you are a bus)?
I think it's quite appropriate considering Subarus (with 4-wheel drive and
a high undercarriage) are often the environmentally friendly alternative
to gas-guzzling SUVs. Their name seems to mock the oversized competition.
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From: Patricia Preston (prestonpATumich.edu)
Subject: Auto naming
Regarding the interesting auto tidbits:
I am told that "Subaru" is the Japanese word for the Pleiades. Take a
look at the -- what? Hood ornament? Logo? Nameplate? The oval symbol
on the front or back of the car.
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From: Nick Webb (nwebbATiattc.org)
Subject: Car names
I wonder how well the Rolls-Royce Silver Mist sold in Germany, given that,
in German, "Mist" means "manure".
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From: Martin Clark (martinfclarkATyahoo.co.uk)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--prelude
The Mitsubishi Pajero is sold in Spain under a different name
because in Spanish vernacular it means something like w@nker.
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From: James Nelson (James_nelsenATclosures.intier.com)
Subject: Random thoughts on car names
As an automotive engineer working for a major parts supplier in the
Detroit area, I am enjoying this week's car name theme. Buick recently
had to change the name of the LaCrosse in Canada because 'LaCrosse' is
French-Canadian slang for, (ahem) self gratification.
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From: Danny Rendleman (danny_rendlemanAThotmail.com)
Subject: Theme for the week
I once owned a BSA motorcycle--which I understood to stand for
Birmingham Small Arms company. My Honda cycle friends insisted it
stood for Boy Scouts of America.
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From: Stuart Tarlowe (starloweATearthlink.net)
Subject: Re: Prelude (and other car names)
Some years ago I had a purebred dog I named Buick.
I told people that he was called Buick because I always wanted my dog
and my car to have the same name, but I just couldn't afford a Rover.
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From: Margaret Boles Fitzgerald (mfitzgeraldAThhcc.com)
Subject: And more about cars!
Here's probably one of the least-known tidbits of trivia that was shared
with me by a former Volvo Board member. Volvo is not some obscure Swedish
word; instead, it is Latin for "I roll".
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From: Bruce Schadel (bschadelATatt.net)
Subject: car names
Your comments about the naming of cars reminds me that Yamaha has produced
a line of cruiser-styled motorcycles called "Virago" since at least 1981.
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From: Theodore R. Buddine (trbfromncATaol.com)
Subject: names of cars
I recently noticed a new model of a Japanese car named a Tundra. Being
fond of word origins, I speculated that the name was probably Russian.
Well, it is, but the Russians got the word from the Laplanders, whose
language is not even Indo-European but is related to Finnish. So we
have a Japanese car, named with a Lappish word, being peddled to
Americans. How supremely macaronic!
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From: Janey Bennett (janeybennettATyahoo.com)
Subject: What BMW means
In Los Angeles during the height of the car break-ins,
BMW was said to stand for Break My Window.
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From: Steve Cecil (stevececilATaol.com)
Subject: more car anagrams
In my article for ADWEEK Magazine, I called these "branagrams:"
Regal = Large
Denali = Denial
Laredo = Ordeal
Mustang = Guts, Man!
Diamante = Animated
PT Cruiser = Scripture
Chevrolet = Tech lover
Silhouette = Hotel suite
Monte Carlo = Clean motor
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From: Janet Dalbec (sdalbecATaloha.net)
Subject: Re Car Names
I was visiting in Denver CO 3 weeks ago when I saw my first Armada. There
is a large Hispanic population there; nonetheless the well dressed
professional Chicana looked puzzled when I commented that it appeared the
invasion was successful this time. She burst out laughing when I pointed
to her car and said that it was a twenty-first century Armada.
Don't forget the wannabe a car: the Aspire.
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From: John Ryan (johnryan4ATearthlink.net)
Subject: names of cars
Don't forget the Cressida. Don't remember who made it but I'll bet he
never read Shakespeare.
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From: Jeb B Raitt (raittjbATssg.navy.mil)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--Caprice, Capri, GTO
"We hope they named it after the island in Italy but one
wonders if they knew that capri means goat."
There was once a sporty Pontiac called the GTO. One of the nicknames
of that car was "goat". And it was an affectionate nickname, at that.
A friend of mine had several restored GTOs, one of which
bore the custom license number CHEVRE 6. Seeing it, I figured the word was
probably French, but I didn't know it, and so asked him. When he told me it
was French for goat, I must have still registered puzzlement, because he
went on to tell me that "goat" is a nickname for a GTO. So the mystery of
that plate was two levels deep. To decipher it, you had to know that chevre
= goat, and that goat = GTO.
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From: Dianne Spotts (diaspotATverizon.net)
Subject: AWAD 'cars'
I liked the name "Spirit" by Dodge until it gave up its ghost.
I was reminded by annoying 'friends' (when I bought my first Taurus)
that Ford stands for 'Found On Road Dead' or 'Fixed Or Repaired Daily'.
And my son is a confirmed Pontiyakker.
Bring back the horse and buggy!
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From: Max Blyton (max.blytonATato.gov.au)
Subject: cars
Five Englishmen in an Audi Quattro arrive at the Italian border.
The Italian Customs agent stops them and says, "It's illegal to put five
people in a Quattro."
"What do you mean it's illegal?" ask the Englishmen.
"Quattro means four," replies the Italian official.
"Quattro is just the name of the automobile," the Englishmen retort
disbelievingly. "Look at the papers: this car is designed to carry five
persons."
"You can't pull that one on me," replies the Italian customs agent.
"Quattro means four. You have five people in your car and you are
therefore breaking the law."
The Englishman replies angrily, "You idiot! Call your supervisor over
-- I want to speak to someone with more intelligence!"
"Sorry," responds the Italian official, "he can't come. He's busy with
two guys in a Fiat Uno."
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From: Vicky-Evic Go (reginacoelisATgmail.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--caprice
On cars: ever heard the joke that goes:
If a Dodge "Stealth" hits a Mitsubishi "Mirage", did the accident happen?
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From: Sue K (skandziATearthlink.net)
Subject: auto names
Some years ago my daughter made an observation--Mirage, Eclipse, Shadow--
What's with all these cars that aren't there? Who would want to drive one?
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From: Dick Timberlake (rhtimberlakeATadelphia.net)
Subject: Pinto
In June of 2000, my wife's Suburban was rear-ended by a Pinto. Needless
to say, the Pinto lost that battle. When I wrote my friends and relatives
about the accident, I used the headline "Pinto Beans Suburban".
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