AUTOSHOW-Embarrassed GM to rename car with risque overtones

Reuters ^ | October 22, 11:28 pm ET

[CSM]

MAKUHARI, Japan, Oct 23 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp (NYSE:GM - News) will rename its Buick LaCrosse in Canada because the name for the car is slang for masturbation in Quebec, embarrassed officials with the U.S. automaker said on Thursday. GM officials, who declined to be named, said it had been unaware that LaCrosse was a term for self-gratification among teenagers in French-speaking Quebec.

GM officials in Canada are working on a new name for the car, a sedan that will go on sale next year to replace the Buick Regal.

The mix-up is reminiscent of another GM vehicle with an unfortunate name. In the 1970s, GM exported its Chevrolet Nova to Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, only to be told that Nova translated into "doesn't go". Despite the name, and contrary to popular folklore, the car sold well.

[CSM]

Those crazy marketing people at GM!

[camle]

what jerkoff thought of that name?

[E Rocc]

Translations that are marketing mistakes.

-Eric

[trebb]

If La Crosse is slang for masturbation, I have a friend who lives in Jack-Off, Wisconsin.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Those crazy Canadians - LaCrosse being a euphamism for masterbation. How the heck they even justify that is beyond me. If anyone here has ever played LaCrosse, you'd understand why it's so hard to believe...

[malakhi]

My brother is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin--La Crosse.

[CSM]

I heard that he still has to take correspondence courses, requiring homework sessions at least twice a week!

[doc30]

How strange. The national sport of Canada is LaCrosse. Might explain Cretien.

[proud American in Canada]

Interesting. I live in Quebec and speak fluent "Quebecois," I didn't know that.

However, I do know that "une pipe" is slang for, um, fellatio, as in "faire une pipe." (Do a pipe). ???

[Tijeras_Slim]

Not Le Lewinski?

[BlackRazor]

"The mix-up is reminiscent of another GM vehicle with an unfortunate name. In the 1970s, GM exported its Chevrolet Nova to Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, only to be told that Nova translated into "doesn't go". Despite the name, and contrary to popular folklore, the car sold well."

Reuters falls for the old Nova urban legend:

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

[sticker]

Yugo is universally translated to mean NO GO or is that Fiat

[BlackRazor]

On second thought, perhaps Reuters didn't actually "fall" for the urban legend. They do acknowledge there is some folklore involved, and they didn't make the mistake of attributing poor sales to the name.

But they still call the name "unfortunate" (why, if sales didn't suffer?), and imply it was another blunder. That part of it might also be urban legend.

[smith288]

I always got a kick out of this college.

[Fierce Allegiance]

I was a lax goalie for all 6 years of high school. I don't understand your point.

[sticker]

I think the answer to that depends on the answer to the following question: Is Reuters really a bunch of dumba@@ or is that just an urban legend?

[js1138]

I always thought the Honda Foreplay was rather suggestive (or is it Prelude).

[CapnMcK]

I guess that means they'll be re-naming the Hummer, too.

[SendShaqtoIraq]

And it's done in public all over the world, even at the Olympics. I don't give a hoot what the name means to french brats in quebec. The name should stay.

[boris]

I read somewhere that Exxon--when it was getting ready to change its corporate name--briefly considered "Enco" since that was the name of its Canadian branch. Then someone pointed out that "Enco" meant "stalled car" in Japanese or something...

--Boris