Wednesday, August 6, 2008

What's in a Name?

I think I’m done with the whole dog thing. The novelty has sort of worn off, and so has my patience with his biting! He’s sort of become one more of those things we live with, with mixed feelings—like the Chennai weather, traffic, and the Indian team.

Just passing through some ridiculously-named businesses the other day, and I seemed to have a list of those. I promise pictures soon!

I actually got thinking of this when I saw the word “More” splashed across all the stores I knew by the name “Trinethra.” Now, for those who don’t know the language, “More” means “buttermilk” in Tamil. I thought of about a hundred jokes that people probably make when they see the board—I wouldn’t be surprised if someone actually thinks it’s a store selling buttermilk, or a free buttermilk booth!

And then there’s the three-wheeler by Piaggio, Àpe. It has an accent, like so many of us, but in this largely English-speaking world, would antennas not have gone up, that it means “monkey”?
And as for Tamil, don’t even try. Tamil slang “aapu,” pronounced very much like the name of the vehicle, actually means, “failure.” Good name for a vehicle model, eh?

Moon White Dry Cleaners: Now, they can’t possibly be that clean if their target is the moon’s colour, can they?

Next Asset Furniture: Their tag line? Compromise With Our Furniture! Hmm… maybe I’m not worth much more. Sniff, sniff!