The car (auto?) industry’s Poet Laureate. Or, what’s in a name.

Edsel cars - black and white photo with yellow and red highlightsMy last post was about Britain’s Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Today’s is about American poet Marianne Moore and her relationship with the US car industry.

Marianne was a winner of the Helen Haire Levinson Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Bollingen Prize. In 1995, she was approached by David Wallace and Bob Young from Ford’s marketing research department, asking for help in naming a “rather important new series of cars”.

Marianne embraced popular culture: according to her biographer she

always enjoyed the language of advertisement, delighting in its inventiveness and ebullience, and even relating it to the poetics of praise.

Jumping at this chance to combine poetry with marketing, she came up with names that included “Silver Sword”, “Intelligent Bullet”, “Ford Fabergé”, “Mongoose Civique”, “Anticipator”, “Pastelogram”, “Astranaut” and “Utopian Turtletop”.

The last name in the list is bemusing, to say the least. And the first two echo a “trains thundering into tunnels” type of male sexual imagery (the word “intelligent” notwithstanding). Worthy, you could say, of an E-Type Jaguar campaign. From which perspective “Anticipator” is perhaps a less happy choice…

Sadly, Ford didn’t take up any of Marianne’s suggestions and opted for the bland and decidedly unsexy “Edsel” (after Edsel Ford, former company president and son of Henry Ford). The Ford family had strongly opposed the use of “Edsel”; Henry Ford II stated that he didn’t want his father’s good name spinning around on thousands of hubcaps.

But after internal studies by Ford to decide on a name – including polls of cinema audiences on their naming preferences – the family were out-manoeuvred and the car was duly christened Edsel.

The Edsel brand was a resounding failure, with the name often being cited as a further reason for its unpopularity. According to Wikipedia

Marketing surveys later found the name was thought to sound like the name of a tractor (Edson) and therefore was unpopular with the public. Moreover, several consumer studies showed that people associated the name “Edsel” with “weasel” and “dead cell” (dead battery), drawing further unattractive comparisons.

The message to marketing departments being: listen to your poetic muse. Names matter.

With thanks to George Thomas for the Edsel fabulosity and to the New York Times Op-Ed column for the idea.

By Marian Dougan

POLITICS POLITICS POLITICS

My first post on this blog, on 1 May, celebrated Carol Ann Duffy’s appointment as Poet Laureate. Her first poem since then has been published in today’s Guardian.

How it makes of your face a stone

that aches to weep, of your heart a fist,

clenched or thumping, sweating blood, of your tongue

an iron latch with no door. How it makes of your right hand

a gauntlet, a glove-puppet of the left, of your laugh

a dry leaf blowing in the wind, of your desert island discs

hiss hiss hiss, makes of the words on your lips dice

that can throw no six. How it takes the breath

away, the piss, makes of your kiss a dropped pound coin,

makes of your promises latin, gibberish, feedback, static,

of your hair a wig, of your gait a plankwalk. How it says this –

politics – to your education education education; shouts this –

Politics! – to your health and wealth; how it roars, to your

conscience moral compass truth, POLITICS POLITICS POLITICS.

The Guardian’s accompanying article includes words like “angry”, “bold”, “passionate”, “rage” and “disgust” to describe the poem. “Black” and “bitterly disenchanted” also come to mind.

How much more sombre and bleak this new poem is than Translating the English, a vivid social commentary on Thatcher’s Britain that Carol Ann wrote 20 years ago.

By Marian Dougan

And the one millionth English word is…

… “Web 2.0”, according to The Global Language Monitor, which uses statistical techniques to document, analyse and track trends in language the world over, with a particular emphasis on Global English.

The site is a bit of a hotch-potch, with sections on Politically Correct Speech, Bushisms, Fashion, Hollywood, Obama, the Olympics, and lots more. It even has a page called “Words of the Pandemic that You Need to Know”, which is certainly topical, with swine flu now up-graded to pandemic status.

I don’t see The Global Language Monitor making it on to my list of “most valued research tools”, but it’ll do fine as a procrastination destination.

By Marian Dougan

One million words (well, nearly)

Words medium

Writing in today’s Telegraph, Simon Winchester celebrates the joys of English, “our truly global language”, which should soon number 1 million words.

Here’s his eye-witness account of the moment one of them was created.

And so, in every gruesome detail, and in an open-plan Thameslink carriage, I related the saga: the sharpening of the blade, the tying of the ligature, the gritted teeth, the fatal slice – and, as I said this, so every whey-faced businessman in the carriage crossed his legs reflexively. There was a sudden corporate gasp.

But not from the two old ladies. They remained quite impassive, thinking. I could see the lexicographical gears grinding in their minds. Then suddenly, and in unison I swear, they spoke: “Autopeotomy!” they cried. Then one to the other: “Yes, Mildred – peotomy is the amputation of the penis. But doing it yourself – that must be autopeotomy. A neologism, I am sure. And Mr Winchester, if you can include this new word in an illustrative sentence in the book you are writing, then we will include it in the next edition of the OED, and you’ll be a small part of history.”

You can read the rest of Simon’s article here (but gentlemen be warned, there’s more gruesome detail). The candidates for the one millionth English word are:

Chengguan Urban management officers, a cross between mayors, sheriffs and city managers.

Jai Ho! From the Hindi, “It is accomplished”; achieved English-language popularity through the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.

Mobama Relating to the fashion sense of the US First Lady, as in “that is quite mobama-ish”.

Noob From the gamer community; a neophyte in playing a particular game; used as a disparaging term.

Phelpsian The accomplishments of Michael Phelps at the Beijing Olympics.

Quendy-Trendy British youth-speak for hip or up-to-date.

Wonderstar As in Susan Boyle, an overnight sensation, exceeding all reasonable expectations.

Zombie Banks Banks that would be dead if not for government intervention.

I’m not bowled over by these. What do you think – any comments or candidates? Surely there must be more from the social media, science, the recession?

Illustration courtesy of Dan Allison.

By Marian Dougan

Absquatulating snollygosters: the week in politics?

No, don’t worry – I’m not about to turn this blog political (well, maybe just a little bit). The political reference is because I’ve discovered a couple of marvellous web sites for anyone who loves words – old ones crying out to be saved and others that are simply weird and wonderful – and am dying to show off these riches.

Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words (how’s that for an enviable domain name?) defines absquatulate as “to make off, decamp, or abscond”, and snollygoster as “a shrewd, unprincipled person, especially a politician”. I wonder if there’s a special word for snollygosters wearing statement brooches?

Brooch - rocking the boat, as worn by Hazel BlearsThe brooch in question was designed by Nick Hubbard. It shows a cat and dog sitting in a boat cast adrift, surrounded by the words “Rocking the Boat”. When a tiny lever on the side of the brooch is operated, the boat rocks from side to side. It was made using oxidized silver, fine gold detail and a hand-painted background. Refreshingly, the brooch was not claimed on expenses but was a gift to Hazel Blears from her husband, and cost £135 (fashion detail courtesy of The Times).

But back to words and web sites. Michael Quinion writes “on international English from a British viewpoint”. He initially studied physical sciences (I so admire people who combine science with language skills!) but now concentrates on World Wide Words and on providing citations and advice for the Oxford English Dictionary.

His site has sections on Topical Words, Weird Words, Turns of Phrase, loads of articles and could be seriously addictive. Be warned.

Another dangerous site for language addicts is The Phrontistery (a thinking-place). The site is run by Stephen Chrisomalis, an academic specialising in Linguistic Anthropology and Numeral Systems and who describes himself as:

one of those “word people” who has an obsessive love for language. Whether you prefer the term logolept, verbivore, logophile, epeolater, or logodaedalus, to name only a few, I count myself among that odd crowd who takes great joy in the mere mention of a new or interesting word.

You could lose yourself for days in The Phrontistery. It contains A Compendium of Lost Words, a list of 2 and 3-letter Scrabble Words and sections on Lipograms and Numerals (Stephen’s research interests include numerals and numeration and ethnomathematics). My favourite section is Glossaries, which range from Adjectives of Relation to Words of Wisdom. Here are some examples to whet your appetite.

The Love and Attraction list begins, somewhat weirdly (until you read Stephen’s introduction), with aerophilately, collecting of air-mail stamps. Other words chosen not quite at random are: gynotikolobomassophile, one who nibbles on women’s earlobes, and Scotophilia, admiration for Scotland or the Scots (well, I would include that, wouldn’t I?).

Reading the list of Colour Terms is intoxicating – like diving into a Poussin or Howard Hodgkin, while Fabric and Cloth evokes the world of haute couture or the splendours of a Renaissance court (with the odd bit of drabbet or russet for the peasants).

Dip into these sites and enjoy. But set yourself a timer first, or warn your nearest and dearest to send out a search party if you’re not back in time for tea.

By the way, I got started on the Snollygoster trail through the “100 funniest words in English” post in Translating is an Art, Percy Balemans’ Dutch & English blog. Dangerous things, blogs.

By Marian Dougan


Of [talking] mice and men

The New York Times has been reporting on research by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Antropology in Leipzig, where scientists have genetically engineered a strain of mice whose FOXP2 gene [a gene sculpted by natural selection to play an important role in language] has been swapped for the human version.

According to the paper, people (a prime example being Doctor Dolittle)

have a deep desire to communicate with animals, as is evident from the way they converse with their dogs, enjoy myths about talking animals or devote lifetimes to teaching chimpanzees how to speak. A delicate, if tiny, step has now been taken toward the real thing: the creation of a mouse with a human gene for language.


Possession of the human version of FOXP2 apparently changes the sounds that mice use to communicate with other mice, as well as other aspects of brain function.

Dr. Gary Marcus, who studies language acquisition at New York University, commented:

People shouldn’t think of this [FOXP2] as the one language gene but as part of a broader cascade of genes. It would have been truly spectacular if they had wound up with a talking mouse.”

Comment in the NY Times ranges from the philosophical, “the idea of exploring what humanness really is”, to this witty take on the research by Mark Leyner, who is:

absolutely baffled as to why the announcement of a scientific advance heralding the advent of talking mice has not generated a peep from the chattering classes, particularly since it’s a story about chattering … and chattering mice, to boot. Read on…

I share his dismay at the idea of maliciously murmouring mosquitos. And can you imagine the last despairing pleas for a lifebelt from that spider you’ve just washed down the plug-hole (because of course it’s bad luck to kill them – outright, at any rate)…

By Marian Dougan

Languages as they is spoke, by Catherine Tate

A little light relief for anyone working or sitting exams on this Spring Bank Holiday. And for long-suffering language teachers!

and

With thanks to Jill Sommer – I found these links on her Translation Musings blog, where I also learned that today’s a public holiday in the US too: Memorial Day.

By Marian Dougan

Begging the question

An e-flyer arrived in my inbox last Thursday from the Italian Tourism Summit organisers. It read:

La tripla crisi del turismo italiano: come uscirne, soluzioni e formule

4 June 2009 – Ascoli Piceno

Consulta il programma e… …Partecipa!

Did this tell me what the triple crisis afflicting Italian tourism is? No, it did not. So I clicked through to the Tourism Summit home page, where I read:

La tripla crisi del turismo italiano: come uscirne, soluzioni e formule.

AIPMT, Associazione Italiana Professionisti Manager del Turismo, in partnership con tsm-Trentino School of Management , con il contributo della Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ascoli Piceno organizza la terza edizione del Summit del Turismo nelle Regioni. Attraverso la presentazione di casi ed esperienze, il Summit sarà l’occasione per stimolare il confronto tra i manager pubblici e privati che stanno realizzando le migliori pratiche turistiche a livello internazionale, con particolare riferimento al marketing della destinazione e alle nuove strategie dell’offerta turistica. Il Summit del Turismo nelle Regioni si rivolge ad assessori, dirigenti e funzionari di organizzazioni turistiche territoriali pubbliche e private che hanno la responsabilità dello sviluppo delle politiche turistiche.

L’ industria turistica è in crisi. Lo si legge nei giornali, lo si ascolta nelle conferenze, ma si parla solo di una sola crisi quella economica.
E’ vero, la crisi economica colpisce direttamente anche il turismo, e non solo ovviamente. Ma il turismo, e questo forse è il vero aspetto della crisi dell’industria turistica, è colpito da altre due crisi: una endogena dovuta a un modello turistico inadeguato già in atto da tempo e da un fattore esogeno dovuto al cambio nel comportamento del nuovo Turista consumatore-prosumer facilitato dalle nuove tecnologie…

1.-Nuovi Metodi di gestione delle Destinazioni per creare prodotti competitivi
E’ assodato che il cliente oggi è un re che ha a disposizione tutti gli strumenti per decidere in prima persona quale tipo di turismo e servizi vuole ricevere. Il nuovo turismo è un turismo di esperienze, molto diverso dal turismo creato, assemblato ed immesso sul mercato, che conosciamo tutti, dove il turista non ha altre opzioni che prendere o lasciare. Oggi le cose non stanno più così ed è evidente che ci stiamo muovendo verso un turismo di relazione ed esperienziale, dove il valore è dato soprattutto da aspetti intangibili piuttosto che tangibili. Si tratta di un turismo più complesso e difficile, dove non ci si può più permettere di improvvisare e dove le professionalità sono fondamentali…

This was the home page, mind. Did it tell me clearly and concisely what the triple crisis afflicting Italian tourism is? No, it did not.

Only when I clicked on the programme button did I see, half-way down the page (but in bold, at least), that the three crises are:

Crisi economica generale

Crisi del prodotto

Crisi della promo-commercializzazione.

If this is the Italian tourism sector’s best effort at communication, we can only be surprised that it’s got just 3, not 300, crises to deal with.

By Marian Dougan

Translators’ time warp – again

iStock pink clocksOnce again my work days are out of kilter with the rest of the country – it’s a bank holiday here in the UK but business as usual for my clients in Italy. Today, however, my kids are out of synch too – like many of their schoolmates they’ve got Scottish Qualifications Authority exams. Why on earth can’t the SQA bring the exam timetable into line with the rest of the country? Surely it can’t be that hard to schedule exams to fall during normal school days? But enough grumbles. Instead, very best wishes to all pupils sitting SQA exams (and especially for Harry and Olivia in their Italian!).

By Marian Dougan

Faster typing and fewer typos

miss USA mediumA productivity tip on typing expansion software “From the Desk of David Pogue” at the New York Times. Typing expansion applications work like Microsoft Office’s “AutoCorrect” feature but are system-wide and include a web-address shortening function:

“Just copy some huge address, for example, and then type ‘/bitly’ into any program; TextExpander pastes in a tiny URL (like http://bit.ly/6EYLj) without your having to open your Web browser and visit a URL-shortening site. It’s fantastic if you use Twitter, where every character counts”.

In addition to speed, typing expansion also cuts down on typos – as long as you type your entries in correctly in the first place.

My problem with typing expansion is remembering which abbreviation I’ve assigned to what. Distinctive words are easy: intnat = international, devt = development, minfa = Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emp = employment. It’s the small, everyday words like “the”, “this”, “here” or “there” that get me. David seems to have it down to a fine art; I guess I need to hone my shortening skills.

You can read David’s article here.

Picture courtesy of Michal Hadassah

By Marian Dougan