h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sometimes it is embarrassing when people use words from other languages for products etc. and export them without realising that the country that is now selling the product has a problem with the name.

There is a four wheel drive vehicle called a Pajero in the UK and Australia (and probably a few other places too). A friend of mine whose first language is Spanish said that this translates as w*nk*r.

Didn't the Rolls Royce Silver Mist have a bit of a problem in Germany? Someone told me that mist in German is a word for manure.

The Vauxhall Nova car had a challenging childhood in territories where 'No-va' could be construed as 'Doesn't Go'

Vauxhall might have thought twice about naming the Cavalier - it anagrams to 'A vile car'.

our German student Wenzel, on the way to Manchester with us, was explaining how to speak Norweigan to the others on the back seat (Greta and Mauro):

"Just speak German with a hot potato in your mouth!" and then he demonstrated the sound, cueing fits of laughter from us all

Sadly the Vauxhall Nova story isn't as good as it sounds - "va" does mean "it goes", but the idiom of "go", meaning for a machine to work, isn't used in Spanish as far as I know. It's a pun that doesn't really work except in translation, I think.

Don't forget we have to be truly grateful to the French for the first - and best - car pun.

Citroen 2CV = deux chevaux = two horsepower

Best thing to come out of France since Brigitte Bardot.

B

The German used to call that call a 'duck'. Dunno why.

In one of their adverts they had the slogan which said "central locking" The driver then reaches round and presses all of the door locks without leaving his seat.

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Ah well there's the difference between 'translate' and 'construe'

"the idiom of "go", meaning for a machine to work, isn't used in Spanish as far as I know."

In fact, it does mean the same in Spanish. If something 'no va', it doesn't work/isn't working.

In Australia there is an ice-cream lolly called a Golden Gaytime. It's an old brand. Do you think they would have named it that now if was a new brand? How does it translate?

I've had a Golden Gaytime. It was a bit biscuity. I quite liked it and may have another.

Snopes has an interesting piece on the no va story:

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

So, the story is that the car sold well and that the nova issue is a urban legend.
Fine.

But, one of the linguistic reasons they offer is wrong.

Spaniards use no va meaning also doesn´t work.
They say we use no marcha, no camina... Ok for no marcha, but no camina is NEVER used for something that it doesn´t work.

I would have used this argument: Spaniards are used to the use of nova in advertising, it´s a Latin adjective meaning new. The spanish word for new is nuevo/nueva, not too dissimilar from nova,
so they probably could have taken that meaning instead of doesn´t work.

Buenos días to you all.

Buenos días Maria

Maria, I took it that that is what they were getting at when they compared it to "notable" vs. "no table".

I have heard juicy gossip about the word Pinto (also used in car names) being a reference to small man parts. Anyone able to clarify? I could find neither Pinto nor Pajero references in Snopes.

If the car manufacturers are so keen on latin words like nova and Uno why not use other numbers like six?

I have no idea.

You mean they don't? I thought they'd used sex in ads for cars for at least half a century.

As Dmitri points out 2CV was called a duck (Ente) in Germany. I believe because it sort of waddles along on the soft springs in its suspension

In Denmark we called it "hippie container" or "hippie limo" among other things

A Volkswagen beetle (the original - and best - version) was called a "Hitler sledge" or an "ingrowing nail"