Let’s chalk this up to a phonetic faux pas. Or shall we say a “foe-net-ick foe paw?”
In English, things go awry when you spell words merely by sound, especially when it comes to a German luxury car.
When Mrs. Action Line saw the ad, she was quite amused.
“They forgot to use the full name,” she pointed out. “It’s a Mersadies-Bends!”
And speaking of “bends,” are there other automobile brands whose names could be twisted by phonetic folly? You bet your carburetor.
For example, if a working man wants a good, solid truck, there’s the Fjord.
The Fjord F-150 is a versatile rig, an American classic with Scandinavian design elements, including a sleek cup holder for Gevalia coffee.
The Fjord bench seats are from IKEA, available in the “Ektorp” cloth option or “Karlstad” leather upholstery.
Another multi-cultural automobile would be the Hun-Day.
Hun-Day is headquartered in South Korea and is known for its Sonata midsize sedan and Elantra compact.
But if we spelled the company’s name as it sounds, there could be a special new model, the Attila.
The Hun-Day Attila would be a swift, heavily armed vehicle used for ruthless pillage and plunder.
On the flip side, those who seek peace and enlightenment, there’s the Toy-Yoda, a car company whose spokesman is a small but powerful Jedi master with pointy ears.
Imagine the Toy-Yoda gravelly voiced sales pitch: “Pleasant experience your car purchase next will be.”
A very popular vehicle for the progressive Durango resident is the Sober-Roo.
The Sober-Roo offers lots of space to haul yoga mats, mountain bikes and organic produce.
Some people would confuse the Sober-Roo brand as promoting teetotaling marsupials, but the vehicles exist solely as a place for “Bread” stickers. At least in Durango.
Then there’s the vehicle line whose tagline is “innovation that excites.” We’re talking about the Knee-Sawn.
Having a Knee-Sawn sounds downright painful. Just ask our good friend Hart Renger, a former Durango resident who is recovering from a knee replacement.
We wish Hart a speedy recovery so he can get back to driving his Tesla, a car name that, regrettably, is spelled like it sounds.
And finally, we’ve saved the best for last. Here is a cheesy car name designed to get your goat: Chèvre-Rolaids.
Mr. and Mrs. Action Line both drive Chèvre-Rolaids, and neither vehicle ever has caused any cases of dyspepsia or heartburn.
Back to that Mersadies for sale … if you buy the car, remember you will need to pay with either cache or Czech.
H H H
The Mea Culpa Mail never ceases to amaze and delight.
Last week’s column about hotels with the “best rats in town” brought a wonderful story from our good friend Rob Dawes.
“Your rats revelations reminded that when I was municipal judge in Durango, circa 1981,” Dawes writes.
“One of the defendants that came before me was a young man and disgruntled former employee of the Strater Hotel,” he recalled. “He had managed to get on the roof of the hotel and painted out the letters S, T, E and R on the big hotel sign, leaving an undesirable name. He admitted his guilt and was required to pay the cost for undoing his edit(orial).”
Email questions to [email protected]. You can request anonymity if the sports gear on the roof of your car is worth more than your car.
Reader Comments