Why do we feel the need to type in all caps for acronyms?

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The discussion revolves around the humorous implications of the names Wawa and Petawawa, suggesting a hierarchy of fictional entities like Kilowawa, Megawawa, Gigawawa, and Terawawa. A calculation humorously claims that this results in an astronomical figure of 312 billion wawas per hour. The conversation also touches on marketing blunders related to car names, highlighting the Chevrolet Nova's supposed struggles in Spanish-speaking markets due to its name sounding like "no va," which means "it doesn't go." However, this claim is debunked as a misconception. Other examples of poorly translated or culturally insensitive car names are mentioned, including the Mitsubishi Pajero and the Buick LaCrosse, which was renamed in Canada due to its vulgar connotation in French. The thread further explores the challenges of branding and naming in different languages, emphasizing the importance of cultural awareness in marketing.
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Wawa and Petawawa imply the existence of Kilowawa, Megawawa, Gigawawa and Terawawa.
Wawa.png


Only 9h17m? That's 312,000,000,000 wawas per hour!
 
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I originally used a linear scale instead of logarithmic, but that put exawawa out beyond Earth's geosynch orbit. And my screen is only 1600 pixels wide.
 
I don't think Wawa has any stores in Canada, though.

I once read somewhere that when Ford started selling cars in Russia, their Russian manuals had the advice (back-translated into English) to always wash their cars with soap made from elephant tusks.

And Chevrolet had trouble selling its Nova models (in the 1970s or whenever) in Spanish-speaking countries because in Spanish, "no va" = "it doesn't go".
 
DaveC426913 said:
Wawa and Petawawa imply the existence of Kilowawa, Megawawa, Gigawawa and Terawawa.View attachment 320460

Only 9h17m? That's 312,000,000,000 wawas per hour!
What about Wawanesa?
 
jtbell said:
And Chevrolet had trouble selling its Nova models (in the 1970s or whenever) in Spanish-speaking countries because in Spanish, "no va" = "it doesn't go".
I had heard (and believed) that before but it doesn't appear to be true:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chevrolet-nova-name-spanish/

the phrase "no va" (literally "doesn't go") and the word "nova" are distinct entities with different pronunciations in Spanish: the former is two words and is pronounced with the accent on the second word; the latter is one word with the accent on the first syllable. Assuming that Spanish speakers would naturally see the word "nova" as equivalent to the phrase "no va" and think "Hey, this car doesn't go!" is akin to assuming that English speakers would spurn a dinette set sold under the name Notable because nobody wants a dinette set that doesn't include a table.
Or, a business that is "not able". :oldtongue:
 
All I can think about while reading these jokes is:

​
 
jtbell said:
And Chevrolet had trouble selling its Nova models (in the 1970s or whenever) in Spanish-speaking countries because in Spanish, "no va" = "it doesn't go".
As Borg notes this one isn't true. However, the Mitsubishi Pajero is marketed as the Montero in at least some Spanish speaking countries because pajero would be blocked by PF's content filter if I translated it into English (edit: I tested, and apparently the content filter is too US-centric to care, but I'll refrain from translating anyway).

I gather Spanish profanity can be quite regional, and I guess they checked if the name meant anything to (e.g.) Mexicans but never asked any Spanish people.
 
As car names go, this is the funny one for French Canadian:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_LaCrosse#North_America said:
This generation of LaCrosse was sold in Canada as the Buick Allure, as the verb crosser is a French Canadian vulgarity that can mean either "masturbation" or "scam".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_LaCrosse#Canadian_market:_Allure said:
The 2nd generation LaCrosse debuted to the Canadian market at the 2009 Montreal International Auto Show as the Buick Allure, and soon after production began, General Motors Canada renamed the Allure to LaCrosse, to correspond with the car's global marketing. GM Canada has offered existing Allure owners the option to change nameplates to LaCrosse.
An appropriate translation to get the feeling, just imagine a car named TheF**k.
 
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jack action said:
As car names go, this is the funny one for French Canadian:An appropriate translation to get the feeling, just imagine a car named TheF**k.
The thing is that it also sounds like the sport, so not everyone immediately makes the association with the "bad" meaning.
 
  • #14
I wanted to name a work project "Fairly Loose Operational Procedures" but that didn't go over well.
 
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DrClaude said:
The thing is that it also sounds like the sport, so not everyone immediately makes the association with the "bad" meaning.
The problem is the same with the sport: Really difficult to say you play that game without having one person imagining you in an X-rated activity.
 
  • #17
Another great acronym that I read about today - some republican congressmen from New York introduced the “Stopping Another Non-Truthful Office Seeker” (SANTOS) Act.
 
  • #18
Scarlett Heights Institute of Technology shrewdly changed its name to Scarlett Heights Technological Institute.
 
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DaveC426913 said:
Scarlett Heights Institute of Technology shrewdly changed its name to Scarlett Heights Technological Institute.
"and all I got was this lousy tee shirt"
 
  • #20
NBS floated "NITS" for the four letter acronym in the eighties...did not go over too well with the employees.
 
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  • #22
DrGreg said:
The stationery retailer Pen Island has a similar problem with the name of its website.
I was gonna bring that one up.
 
  • #23
tortoise.jpg
 
  • #24
Here are some terrible ones

What do you call a world-renowned linguist? A figure of speech
What language should the linguist end with? Finnish
 
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  • #25
Not a joke, just a quirk.

During my data entry tasks, I frequently type in a series of acronyms, all in caps, separated by spaces.
I am compelled to unshift whenever I type the space, I guess lest I accidentally enter a 'capital space' in the database.

<SHIFT>NOTFP:<UNSHIFT><SPACE><SHIFT>PMH<UNSHIFT?

It's pointless, it even slows me down, but I can't break the habit.
 

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