Buick Mispronounces its Own SUV's Name

Forget about emotions and dinette sets! I'm asking you if a typical English-speaker, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, would be likely to make such a connection -- likely enough that "Notable" would be a bad name for products or services in general. (Remember that it also contains the words "not able," a pejorative comment about any product or service.)

Would someone visiting

A quick check reveals that a nearby business is called 'Notable Music.' Do you suppose that this has caused problems for them?

Why isn't the word 'gullible' listed in the dictionary?

Obviously, you didn't bother to read the snopes.com article for which Brian Rodenborn kindly posted the URL.

"The one bit of supporting evidence offered to back up this legend is spurious as well. General Motors, we're told, finally wised up and changed the model name of their automobile from Nova to Caribe, after which sales of the car 'took off.' One small problem with this claim: the Caribe sold in Mexico was manufactured by Volkswagen, not General Motors. (The Caribe was the model name used by VW in Mexico for the car more commonly known in the USA as the Volkswagen Golf.) The Nova's model name was never changed for the Spanish-speaking market."

Of course they do, but that's irrelevant. People needn't be "emotional" about something to pass around a silly joke.

It wasn't, but that's of no concern to you. By all means, don't take the time to educate yourself on a subject. Just bury your head in the sand and believe what you want to believe.

No, of course not. They somehow managed to launch an automobile in Spanish-language countries without consulting a single person who understood the language.

Quoting the Urban Legends Reference Pages again:

"This legend assumes that a handful of General Motors executives launched a car into a foreign market and remained in blissful ignorance about a possible adverse translation of its name. Even if nobody in Detroit knew enough rudimentary Spanish to notice the coincidence, the Nova could not have brought to market in Mexico and/or South America without the involvement of numerous Spanish speakers engaged to translate user manuals, prepare advertising and promotional materials, communicate with the network of Chevrolet dealers in the target countries, etc. In fact, GM was aware of the translation and opted to retain the model name 'Nova' in Spanish-speaking markets anyway, because they (correctly) felt the matter to be unimportant."

The sort of arrogance that you describe is precisely what keeps this ridiculous myth in circulation.

No, I hadn't. I had referenced the topics, but I was delving deeper.

But that's okay; you needn't think about anything that might burst your bubble!

Heineken?

-Kenny

Huh?! When did I claim that "names were not important"?!

The issue is whether or not 'Nova' was a poor designation for Spanish-language markets. 'Chevrolet Mierda' would have been an unwise choice, but the available evidence (which you refuse to accept) indicates that 'Chevrolet Nova' was not.

No! Are you seriously still harping on the "dinette set" analogy?

You continue to miss the point. I'll try this again:

"If not for this discussion, would you *EVER* have associated the word 'notable' with the phrase 'no table'?"

Forget about the concept of a product or service! In order for someone to deride something in this manner (be it an automobile model or a toothpaste brand), they first need to THINK of the play on words. The above question (which you've yet to answer) merely asks if you would have THOUGHT of the 'notable' = 'no table' (or 'not able,' for that matter) connection.

No, but that isn't a factor.

No, nor did I advance such a claim.

"Would an American company market gasoline under a name that could be construed as 'doesn't go'? Of course not, so why would a Mexican company do the same?"

I'm didn't "equate the purchase of an automobile" with that of gasoline. I merely addressed the latter.

If the likelihood existed for someone to misconstrue a word as the phrase 'doesn't go' (intentionally or otherwise), why would a company use that word as a name for its gasoline? (irrespective of the car that followed)

And again, Spanish-speaking/reading people approved the decision to market the 'Chevrolet Nova' in Spanish-language countries.

No.

Since the car didn't flop then obviously it wasn't a bad choice of names. All that I've been defending was that the association would be an easy one to make for people who didn't like the car and were looking for an excuse to deride it.

The amount of emotional appeal is what determines the amount of effort people put into mocking something. Dinette sets, toothpaste and gas all generate about zero emotional appeal. Cars generate an awful lot for some people.

It is if someone wants to make fun of a vehicle.

And, once again, how much effort are people likely to put into deriding a specific brand of gasoline?

And marketing people get it right every time? Witness the release of the Dodge SRT-4. "Up on stage, the company's new "director of product planning," a lanky dude with Euro sunglasses, tight-fitting shirt, and toque pulled tight over his head, hopped spastically around the bright-yellow car, not describing its features or technical specifications, but rather how it had him all "amped, yo yo yo", how the car rocked his world, man. Then, then-Chrysler Canada head Ed Brust got onstage and, on a huge computer terminal, logged onto the company's Web site and joined a chat session where many supposed enthusiasts "ad-libbed" positive, yo yo yo-laced comments about how much they wanted the new Dodge. "

Just goes to show that there's a niche for everything, I guess.

It has everything to do with the case in point.

Then why are you getting so upset about it.

You stated that the car had been assigned a "bad name." I quoted this three times (once adding that you had implied "that the decision to retain the 'Nova' designation in Spanish-language markets was a poor one"), and you didn't dispute that this was your contention. In fact, you explicitly verified it:

: : You've conveyed the belief that due to similarities between : : the word 'nova' and the phrase 'no va,' the car's "bad name" : : resulted in ridicule among some Spanish-speakers/readers.

: Which it surely did. Those who didn't like the car would have : made fun of it and added the significant space.

You just conceded, so that pretty much wraps things up. Except for...

No, that ISN'T all that you've been defending. (See above.)

Actually, C. E. White was the first to mention the "Notable" example in the course of this discussion. I reiterated it, but I also attempted to explain to you that the "dinette set" element was unimportant. Unfortunately, you insist upon dismissing the entire analogy, purely on the basis of a dinette set's lack of "emotional appeal."

In any case, I have no desire to debate the fact that it's possible for someone to twist an innocuous product name into a humorous insult. I acknowledged that long ago.

All along, I've been debating your contention that 'Nova' was a "bad name" for Spanish-language markets. Apparently, now that you FINALLY recognize the fallacious nature of your supposed facts, you've decided to pretend that you never alleged this.

Please don't start telling us of how AOL and Microsoft have announced a new virus that everybody should be careful of because it eats your computer....

Clue: If a = b, and b is less than c, and c > d, then a can still be < or > d. Logic. I know it is difficult, but you should try it sometime.

"C.R. Krieger" wrote

Only if you don't like Heineken ...

Floyd

If it helps any, I'd point out that, like the astronomical phenomenon for which it's named, once a Chevrolet Nova *has* exploded, it truly 'don't go' (No va.).

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! I crack me up!

-- C.R. Krieger (Been there; drove that)

Brett Favre mis-pronounces his own name:

It should be Brett Fah'-vruh

Not "FARVE"

Why not Fay-vree? How about Fah-ver? "I ate his liver with some Favre beans and a nice chianti."