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AUTOSHOW-Embarrassed GM to rename car with risque overtones
Reuters ^
| October 22, 11:28 pm ET
Posted on 10/23/2003 6:15:19 AM PDT by 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.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Canada; News/Current Events
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Those crazy marketing people at GM!
1
posted on
10/23/2003 6:15:19 AM PDT
by
CSM
To: CSM
what jerkoff thought of that name?
2
posted on
10/23/2003 6:18:17 AM PDT
by
camle
(no fool like a damned fool)
To: CSM
3
posted on
10/23/2003 6:18:29 AM PDT
by
E Rocc
(Collectivism is to freedom as raw sewage is to fresh water.)
To: CSM
If La Crosse is slang for masturbation, I have a friend who lives in Jack-Off, Wisconsin.
4
posted on
10/23/2003 6:18:35 AM PDT
by
trebb
To: CSM
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...
5
posted on
10/23/2003 6:18:42 AM PDT
by
Chad Fairbanks
(Francis Scott Key was a One-Hit Wonder)
To: CSM
My brother is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin--La Crosse.
6
posted on
10/23/2003 6:21:22 AM PDT
by
malakhi
(Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.)
To: malakhi
I heard that he still has to take correspondence courses, requiring homework sessions at least twice a week!
7
posted on
10/23/2003 6:23:00 AM PDT
by
CSM
(Congrats to Flurry and LE!)
To: CSM
How strange. The national sport of Canada is LaCrosse. Might explain Cretien.
8
posted on
10/23/2003 6:25:32 AM PDT
by
doc30
To: CSM
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). ???
9
posted on
10/23/2003 6:25:41 AM PDT
by
proud American in Canada
("We are a peaceful people. Yet we are not a fragile people.")
To: proud American in Canada
Not Le Lewinski?
10
posted on
10/23/2003 6:27:57 AM PDT
by
Tijeras_Slim
(SSDD - Same S#it Different Democrat)
To: CSM
"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
To: BlackRazor
Yugo is universally translated to mean NO GO or is that Fiat
12
posted on
10/23/2003 6:39:48 AM PDT
by
sticker
To: sticker
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.
To: CSM
I always got a kick out of this college.
14
posted on
10/23/2003 6:50:35 AM PDT
by
smith288
((( ‹(•¿•)› )))
To: Chad Fairbanks
I was a lax goalie for all 6 years of high school. I don't understand your point.
15
posted on
10/23/2003 6:53:02 AM PDT
by
Fierce Allegiance
(Proudly posting without reading the article since October 12, 2003)
To: BlackRazor
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?
16
posted on
10/23/2003 6:54:45 AM PDT
by
sticker
To: CSM
I always thought the Honda Foreplay was rather suggestive (or is it Prelude).
17
posted on
10/23/2003 7:01:42 AM PDT
by
js1138
To: CSM
I guess that means they'll be re-naming the Hummer, too.
18
posted on
10/23/2003 7:10:21 AM PDT
by
CapnMcK
To: trebb
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.
To: E Rocc
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
20
posted on
10/23/2003 7:14:11 AM PDT
by
boris
(The deadliest Weapon of Mass Destruction in History is a Leftist With a Word Processor)
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