# Who started adding letters to the end of car names? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 12, 2006, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-letters-to-the-end-of-car-names/364249 "2006-07-12T22:08:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ombre3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@ombre3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ombre3)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-letters-to-the-end-of-car-names/364249/21 "2006-07-14T04:45:35Z")
And of course there is the LTD. Limited to what? How many they could sell? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-letters-to-the-end-of-car-names/364249/22 "2006-07-14T05:54:07Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] Mercedes used an E suffix for the German word meaning fuel injection, L for long wheelbase, and D for diesel. They were doing so in the 1950s-how much further back I cannot affirm. [/QUOTE] That reminds of Sir Mix-a-lot’s song, “Something 'Bout My Benzo”: _Not just one - I got three I collect 'em ya see: SEL, a 190 and a SEC_ ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-letters-to-the-end-of-car-names/364249/23 "2006-07-14T06:18:09Z")
I love the muscle car of the 70s (As sold here in Australia, at least), the Ford Falcon GTHO. The HO stood for “Handling Option”, which was a tacit way of admitting that you had to pay for a top of the line car in you wanted to be able to steer the thing, and that the regular cars of the era were like houseboats. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-letters-to-the-end-of-car-names/364249/24 "2006-07-14T13:15:34Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] What I want to know is why Infiniti and Millenia are spelled that way. [/QUOTE] Easier to enforce under trademark law. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-letters-to-the-end-of-car-names/364249/25 "2006-07-14T13:57:08Z")
[QUOTE=ombre3] And of course there is the LTD. Limited to what? How many they could sell? [/QUOTE] That was a Seinfeld bit, wasn’t it? [QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] What I want to know is why Infiniti and Millenia are spelled that way. [/QUOTE] I’m sure you’ve noticed that a large number of companies prefer alternative spellings. It has to do with the relationship between language and the strength of a trademark. There’s a continuum of categories: Generic - Descriptive - Suggestive - Arbitrary - Fanciful If you have a word that you’ve invented yourself and it has no meaning other than the one you’ve assigned to it, then you have stronger rights to prevent anyone else using it for any reason. If, on the other hand, the word is simply an English word that you are using for its ordinary meaning, then you can’t stop anyone else from using it. Changing the spelling of a word helps you to move it more in the direction of “fanciful.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-started-adding-letters-to-the-end-of-car-names/364249.md?page=1)