# Wendy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 13, 2002, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621 "2002-12-13T22:09:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Breathe\_Exhaust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@Breathe\_Exhaust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breathe_Exhaust)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/1 "2002-12-13T22:09:50Z")
I have also heard Wendy used as a diminutive of Winifred. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/2 "2002-12-13T22:46:44Z")
The Staff Report being discussed is [Was the name Wendy invented for the book “Peter Pan”?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpeterpanwendy.html) Breathe, it’s helpful to others if you provide a link to the relevant staff Report when opening a thread to discuss it. Helps keep us all together, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Breathe\_Exhaust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@Breathe\_Exhaust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breathe_Exhaust)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/3 "2002-12-14T00:13:13Z")
I’m kinda new, how do I do that? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/4 "2002-12-14T02:46:03Z")
Take a look at this [explanation of vBulletin codes](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/misc.php?s=&action=bbcode) The short answer is that you can simply paste the report’s URL into your post, making sure to leave a blank space on either side of it. Like so: [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpeterpanwendy.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpeterpanwendy.html) If you want a hyperlink like Dex’s, you do like so: [**url=“[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpeterpanwendy.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpeterpanwendy.html)”]Was the name Wendy invented for the book “Peter Pan”?[/url**] which produces [Was the name Wendy invented for the book “Peter Pan”?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpeterpanwendy.html) ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/5 "2002-12-14T03:39:28Z")
I notice this Staff Report is dated Dec. 17, 2002. Is there some archive of yet-to-be-published columns that I’m missing? ---
**Author:** ![brokenbottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@brokenbottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brokenbottle)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/6 "2002-12-14T08:29:50Z")
gwyn, the white warrior, name of a man/male/whateveryouwant ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/7 "2002-12-14T14:57:21Z")
Legend, the Staff Report will be posted this coming Tuesday. You can subscribe to THE STRAIGHT DOPE mailing list to get a preview of Cecil’s column, the next Staff Report, and a classic column. To get on the mailing list, go to the STRAIGHT DOPE home page, and scroll down a bit, and you’ll see (in large blue letters) the words “Join the Straight Dope Mailing List.” Click on that, and follow the easy instructions. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2002, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/8 "2002-12-14T22:06:14Z")
While reading the novel of Edna Ferber’s “Show Boat”, she indicates that SHE invented the name Kim because the character with that name was born on the boat in the middle of the rivers were Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri come together. The book itself calls the name ugly and uneuphonious, or words to that effect. I know the name became popular after the Korean War, but Kipling wrote his novel “Kim” before Ferber wrote hers. Were there people with the first name of Kim before the Korean War? ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/9 "2002-12-15T02:50:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven \* > **Legend, the Staff Report will be posted this coming Tuesday. You can subscribe to THE STRAIGHT DOPE mailing list to get a preview of Cecil’s column, the next Staff Report, and a classic column.** Ah, thank you! I won’t do that, of course, because it would spoil the pleasure I take in anticipating the column each day. Really. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/10 "2002-12-15T03:33:31Z")
You’re not the type to get up at 3 AM Christmas morning to open all your presents, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Breathe\_Exhaust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@Breathe\_Exhaust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breathe_Exhaust)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/11 "2002-12-15T06:20:45Z")
My niece’s name is Mia. Not in her case, but in the case of many daughters of Vietnam vets, Mia is used as a tribute name to those soldiers still missing. MIA, as you know, is an acronym for Missing In Action. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/12 "2002-12-15T11:12:57Z")
…which brings us to the [most poorly-thought-out name for an automobile company ever.](http://www.kia.com/) (Citroen doesn’t count.) ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/13 "2002-12-15T19:01:12Z")
I don’t get it. What’s wrong with Kia? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/14 "2002-12-15T21:58:24Z")
You know those guys buried in the [big cemetery in Arlington](http://www.arlingtoncemetery.com/)? I believe a lot of those guys were KIA (Killed In Action) in Korea. Kia is a Korean company. ---
**Author:** ![Breathe\_Exhaust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@Breathe\_Exhaust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breathe_Exhaust)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/15 "2002-12-15T22:49:01Z")
There were two car model names that didn’t cut it in Spanish-speaking markets: Matador, which means “Killer” and Nova, which means “Doesn’t go” ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/16 "2002-12-15T22:54:01Z")
[http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.htm](http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.htm) Never heard the “matador” one before, though. ---
**Author:** ![Breathe\_Exhaust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@Breathe\_Exhaust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breathe_Exhaust)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2002, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/17 "2002-12-15T23:02:13Z")
I believe it was a GMC model from the '70s, along with such automotive legends as the Gremlin, the Hornet, and the Pacer. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/18 "2002-12-16T02:16:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Breathe Exhaust \* > \*\*I believe it was a GMC model from the '70s, along with such automotive legends as the Gremlin, the Hornet, and the Pacer. \*\* Those are AMC models, not GMC (American Motors Corp. as opposed to General Motors Corp.). And if you check **ruadh’s** link, you’ll see that the story about the Nova is completely false. I believe her remark was intended to say she had never heard a similar (and probably also false) legend about the Matador model, not that she had never heard of a Matador. Ugly ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/19 "2002-12-16T05:28:14Z")
The “matador” story, unlike the “Nova” story, is at least based on solid truth (“matador” does indeed mean “killer” in Spanish); as to whether or not it suppressed sales of the AMC automobile of that name in Spanish-speaking countries, I dunno about that, but I bet it drew a few laughs. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2002, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621/20 "2002-12-16T12:00:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Breathe Exhaust \* > \*\*There were two car model names that didn’t cut it in Spanish-speaking markets: > > Matador, which means “Killer” and > Nova, which means “Doesn’t go” \*\* Urban legend warning! “Matador” does indeed mean “killer”, but the connotations are different. For example, the guy who puts the bull out of his misery at bullfights is called the matador. A car named Matador isn’t strange in any way. Now, a car named Murderer… And “Nova”… please. Apologies to whomever I ripped this from (I thought it was Cecil but cannot find the column), but are you telling me you wouldn’t buy a dinette set called “Notable” because you would assume it didn’t include a table? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wendy/142621.md?page=2)