Speaking of this, and tangentially to the OP, how do manufacturers, carmakers in particular, keep their names in order? Particularly pre-electronic database, how did Chevy know that no one else had the Nova, for instance? Or Toyota the Tercel?
At one time it was easy, since I heard that at one point 70% of all the cars on the road in the world were Ford Model T’s. But things are more complicated now.
That’s rubbish. Kodak was named for the reason that its founder’s name was George Eastman Kodak.
That’s rubbish too. The Shogun is simply the UK badge for the Pajero. You may have purchased two used ones that were purchased from Continental dealers to avoid UK markups.
This is rubbish too. As already noted, Esso was a shortening of Standard Oil after that company’s trust breakup, and Standard Oil of New Jersey decided to switch to Exxon is the US because it was precluded from using the Esso name in other SO companies’ home markets.
Trademark filings.
And the Model T was never that ubiquitous. Ford itself estimates that about 52% of all cars on the road worldwide were Model Ts in 1924 (the peak).
No, his name was George Eastman. He made up the word “Kodak” because he liked the letter K, and wanted a strong-sounding word that began and ended with it, but that meant nothing. This is told, among other places, in a 1962 issue of Kiplinger’s.
Whoah. I stand properly corrected.
What kind of bee hangs around gas stations?
Esso bees.
Cf. “XeroX,” ca. 1960.
Yes, with two capital Exes.
I didn’t see mentioned but countries have different emmission and crash standards so one country will continue with one model and another will get an updated version (new name for differential purposes. Also, some countries have tax rates based on overall size, engine displacement, or type of engine which influence which models get sold where. My 2006 Acura TSX (sold in the USA) was sold in Europe as the Honda Accord. The US Accord was slightly larger. There might be ferry limitation (fees) that come into play based on size/length.
Registered Trademarks.
GM would simply try to register the word “Nova” as the name of a car as a trademark in the US. Either they’d get it, or they’d be told somebody else already had it.
Unfortunately, they’d only bother to register the trademark in countries where they were planning on marketing that car. This is why in some countries the name “Budweiser” for beer is owned by an American company, and in others it is owned by a company in Ceské Budějovice in the Czech Republic. (See, the German name for the city is Budweis, thus “Budweiser” is the name for the kind of beer from there just as “Plisner” means the style from Pilsen.)
I don’t see how Esso would have a problem calling itself Esso in areas where there were other companies called some variation on Standard Oil.
However, that story makes at least as much sense (probably more) than the word-of-mouth that I had, so I accept it as more likely correct.
Since folks have asked, the version I had heard was that “esso” meant excrement either in the Philippines or New Guinea.
Nope: Shoguns are sold by Mitsubishi in Britain; Pajeros are the same, although slightly less finished to look at, but are used imports from Japan.
Which country churns over cars as much as the Germans ( I would veer the other way, since it seems a waste of steel for the population to change cars every 2-3 years ).
POCUK, the UK Pajero owners club makes a sharp distinction between Shoguns and Pajeros, although catholically accepting of both. One would assume a Shogun driver to be more professional, like a lawyer; whereas a Pajero owner might be a shop assistant. We like our 4x4s in Britain.
They were prevented by trademark law - they didn’t own the rights to use Esso in those regions of the US. It was all part of the breakup of Standard Oil.
It looks like Exxon sold it’s last holdings in the Philippines to Petron in 2012, and was still using the Esso name 40 years after it switched to Exxon in the US. It would appear the version you heard is baseless.
Xerox was named for Xerography, which is the term for the printing process used in their copiers.
Which was a word they coined to describe the new process. Kodak is similarly attributed to the sound box cameras make. Most truly “great” company and product names have some such connection to the business or process involved, but in the end are created nonsense words.
They did drop the second capital X pretty quickly, to their credit. (And later went to the “disintegration” logo, which to my eye always looked backwards…)
What’s the Nissan Juke called in Israel? It means “cockroach.”
Not only did they keep the name, it’s a huge seller in Israel. Israeli humor, I guess.
Well, xero- is a combining form meaning “dry”. So, xerography means dry printing. Well coined, I’d say.
“Dry writing” is the usual translation I’ve heard, including from early Xerox materials. Yes, it’s certainly apt and accurate, but it *was *created by their marketing department. And in any case, “xerox” is a word as free of inherent meaning as most brand names, no matter how many words or concepts they might allude to. Look at how many car model names are almost-words suggesting a range of kewl tags.
I only recently noted that many oil companies have a — to me unattractive — oco or similar termination: as in this article seeking the least unethical place to buy petrol/gas.
I get the original Esso = S. O. derivation, although I can scarcely sympathise; but:
Amoco ( really BP )
Arco ( bis )
Texaco and Unocal ( both from SoCal, part of Standard Oil again )
Conoco ( ConocoPhillips )
Exxon
Enco
Arco
Noco
etc…
Probably old John D’s fault eventually…
The takeaway from that article is that BP really didn’t like shelling out on safety features.
Bossy meddlesome bureaucrats fussing about imposing the dead hand of state regulations on go-ahead entrepreneurs, stifling Enterprise !
This is my favorite example. I once came across a Mitshubishi Pajero in Africa with a fellow Spanish-speaker and we had a good laugh at it.
For the same reason, the term for bird-watcher or birder, pajarero, is problematic in Spanish. The tendency is to use the unwieldy observador de aves instead.
That’s because -oco literally stands for “oil company.”
Amoco = American Oil Company
Conoco = Continental Oil Company
Arco = Atlantic Richfield Company
Texaco = Texas Fuel Company