# The Japanese are "killing us"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 8, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906 "2003-05-08T15:11:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thursday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@Thursday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thursday)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906/21 "2003-05-14T05:20:26Z")
H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks with that noise. I’m sticking to motorcycles. Then again, the “Weird Name Dept.” is alive and well in that world, too: one of the best selling series of bikes is called the Yamaha “Virago”. What next, the “Harridan”? How about the “Shrieking Bitch”? They struck out (in North America, anyways) with the obviously-not-researched “TDM”. The shame there is that it was quite a good bike. It sold a little better in Europe and Asia, where the unfortunate initials don’t mean much to non-English speakers. Suzuki has hit a coulpe of oddities, too: the V-Strom made people think they had transposed letters (my translator tells me it means “current” in German), and only those who live in Florida knew how to pronounce “Volusia” on the first try. They also put out (for a couple of years) the “Madura”, which I am given to understand is some form of mythical hag in Japan. A Shrieking Bitch, perhaps? Kawasaki has the “Drifter”, which apparently is most welcome at the Bates Motel (“Drifters, Runaways and Orphans Welcome!”). It is dressed up to look like the old Indian make of bike, which has led to it’s nickname of “Grey Owl”, as he was a fake Indian, too… Honda’s got the “Varadaro”, which is as likely to be seen in Cuba as Ronald Regan, and the “City Fly”, which really is a tiny (125cc) little pest. Motorcyclists run enough risks in traffic without tempting other vehicles to swat what we’re riding. Harley has a “Sportster Sport”, obviously named by their Department of Redundancy Department. And, more a design flaw than one of nomenclature, Aprillia has a “Futura” that was designed by, well, you ever wonder where the people who designed the costumes for “Tron” ended up? Okay, I think I’ve gotten that out of my system. We noe return you to your regularly scheduled thread. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906/22 "2003-05-16T05:10:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chaucerwatch \* > \*\*I live in Japan. My all-time #1 favorite bizarre car name is the “We’ve.” Yep, with the apostrophe and everything. I think it might be a Nissan. \*\* I don’t think I’ve seen the **We’ve** yet, but Honda definitely makes a **[That’s](http://www.honda.co.jp/auto-lineup/thats/)**. My favorite name is still the Suzuki **Joypop**. ---
**Author:** ![privard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e8c25b/32.png) [@privard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/privard)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906/23 "2003-05-16T09:50:49Z")
About car names IN (not just from) Japan, you left out the Toyota Emina (if you don’t see the problem, try to say it three times fast), the Cultus, and the Saloon Cars from various manufacturers (your drinking and driving problem again). As for radio controls, many Japanese DON’T use them–they either set them once when they buy the car and listen to whatever comes on, or they have remotes that attach to the steering wheel. And, really, except for one or two freak models, the controls are only an inch lower than the climate controls–it doesn’t make much difference. ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906/24 "2003-05-17T20:57:47Z")
[Curiousity Hijack] When did Toyota begin using the [‘cowboy’ emblem](http://www.tuneshops.com/productimages/toyota_emb_white_sm.jpg) on their cars? And was it, if you know, to spur 😃 United States sales? [/Curiousity Hijack] ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906/25 "2003-05-20T06:20:59Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by gluteus maximus \* \*\*There’s “Parsley”, “Carrot”, and “Voxy”, and Mitsubishi’s SUV called “Pajero”, which a Chilean friend tells me means "one who masturbates. \*\*[/QUOTE “Pajero” means bird. ---
**Author:** ![flonks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@flonks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flonks)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906/26 "2003-05-20T11:29:16Z")
These stories are old. Apparently in the 20’s the Rolls Royce “Silvermist” was not a big hit in Germany. Perhaps because “Mist” means “Trash” in German 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906/27 "2003-05-21T05:41:44Z")
Okay, I’ll bite. Virago? TDM? V-Strom? What’s wrong with them? **PhiloVance** , cowboy emblem? That’s a T made from two loops, encircled by a third loop. IIRC that came out in the late '80s. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906/28 "2003-05-24T23:01:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Irishman \* > **Okay, I’ll bite. Virago? TDM? V-Strom? What’s wrong with them? > …** [Virago](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=virago) means “a loud or overbearing woman” in English. It might have other meanings in other languages as well. I think the problem with TDM is that people would tend to pronounce it “tedium”, and the problem with V-Strom is that it looks like they misspelled V-Storm. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906/29 "2003-05-24T23:48:46Z")
> [@](#): > > “Pajero” means bird. _Pájaro_ means bird. I don’t get any matches for _pajero_. I suspect that the assertion that it means"one who masturbates" is incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906/30 "2003-05-25T00:27:31Z")
FWIW, Grad school professor from Mexico said that Pajero meant masterbation in some of the central american countries. ---
**Author:** ![sickboy51](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@sickboy51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sickboy51)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906/31 "2003-05-25T01:52:17Z")
[. There’s “Parsley”, “Carrot”, and “Voxy”, and Mitsubishi’s SUV called “Pajero”, which a Chilean friend tells me means "one who masturbates. Oh, yeah… Mitsubishi also sells a “Mini Pajero”. No kidding! \*\* [/QUOTE] “Pajero” does not anly mean “one who masturbates”, exactly means “one who masturbates a lot”. Here, in Spain, everybody would be pretty unconfortable about telling a friend that he´s going to buy a “pajero”. ---
**Author:** ![sickboy51](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@sickboy51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sickboy51)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906/32 "2003-05-25T01:56:06Z")
“Pajero” means bird. \*\* [/QUOTE] Not in spanish, “bird” is “pájaro”, “pajero” is… well, you know. I notice that pronunced by an english-speaking person the tho words sound alike (even the same), but still, there´s a huge difference when it comes to the meaning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-japanese-are-killing-us/173906.md?page=1)