# Detroit News: All The Urban Legends That're Fit To Print **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 7, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-news-all-the-urban-legends-thatre-fit-to-print/283642 "2005-01-07T21:12:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-news-all-the-urban-legends-thatre-fit-to-print/283642/1 "2005-01-07T21:12:39Z")
From [The Tennessean](http://tennessean.com/business/archives/05/01/63820868.shtml?Element_ID=63820868), but attributed to the Detroit News: > [@](#): > > Automakers have to go to great lengths to ensure that an ill-chosen name doesn’t wreck a vehicle’s chances before it ever gets started. > > GM famously learned this lesson in the early 1980s with the introduction in Mexico and Spain of its Chevy Nova coupe. ‘‘No va’’ in Spanish means ‘‘won’t go.’’ When Ford sold its Caliente in Brazil, the company later found out the name was the local term for a prostitute. I heard they also made a car with a horn that sounded like a duck’s quack so that it wouldn’t echo…but no one knows why. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-news-all-the-urban-legends-thatre-fit-to-print/283642/2 "2005-01-07T21:19:29Z")
[Here’s the original](http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosinsider/0412/27/A01-42573.htm) Found it on [Detnews.com](http://Detnews.com) ---
**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-news-all-the-urban-legends-thatre-fit-to-print/283642/3 "2005-01-07T22:32:13Z")
A couple weeks ago I was listening to the news on TV and brushing my teeth when the News lady reported that car jackers are using fliers on the back windows of cars to distract the driver so they can steal the car. Presumably after the car owner has unlocked the door or whatever. I was so appalled I nearly choked on my toothpaste. I am a dedicated Snopes girl and I knew that was an urban legend along the lines of “It hasn’t happened yet, but it could! Fear everything!!!” Anyway, very annoyed me fired off an email to the News Director guy from the TV station’s website with the link to the Snopes article and expressed my disappointment that they didn’t check out their news stories better. To my amazement I got a reply the next day (badly written and with ever worse grammer than I have in put this post). He apologized for the misinformation, said the story came from the AP(!) and that his staff didn’t check it’s accuracy. As far as I know they never put out a retraction. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-news-all-the-urban-legends-thatre-fit-to-print/283642/4 "2005-01-07T22:49:41Z")
The day that was published in the Detroit News I wrote them an email with the Snopes cite, but I never heard back. So they’ve been informed and they should have corrected it by now, but alas, not. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detroit-news-all-the-urban-legends-thatre-fit-to-print/283642/5 "2005-01-07T23:31:50Z")
I work for Ford and this story was part of the lesson plan in our mandatory diversity training. Naturally I pointed out that it was incorrect, explained the misconceptions using the ‘Notable Furniture’ and ‘No Table Furniture’ examples, the teachers felt the facts didn’t so much matter. It’s still a valid story, y’see. Well, no, it’s not, because it didn’t go down that way, it’s not likely to ever occur that way so you should acknowledge that. They turned my little stoplight badge to amber and told me to shuddup. :rolleyes: