{"id":23694,"date":"2024-01-09T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/brand-name-translations-a-car-called-an-idiot\/"},"modified":"2024-11-28T11:11:40","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T10:11:40","slug":"brand-name-translations-a-car-called-an-idiot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/brand-name-translations-a-car-called-an-idiot\/","title":{"rendered":"Brand name translations: a car called an idiot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A car whose name doesn\u2019t go at all and a lemonade that implies lustful intentions: The translation of brand names is a sophisticated art form in marketing<\/a> but can present many pitfalls that even major corporations sometimes overlook. We have compiled a \u201cbest-of\u201d misleading brand names \u2013 along with examples of how some companies elegantly solved a translation problem.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

1. A detergent called parsley<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Some of our readers may still remember the Persil guy. For eleven years, from 1975 to 1986, Jan-Gert Hagemeyer would tell viewers cleaning stories about the detergent Persil just before the daily news on TV. However, Jan-Gert Hagemeyer’s factual washing-themed stories were only available for the German-speaking market. In other countries, especially in France, the brand name \u201cPersil\u201d would suggest that the product could be found in the supermarket with the vegetables and not with the detergents. After all, the French word \u201cpersil\u201d translates as parsley. And a detergent named after something that tends to cause stains probably wouldn\u2019t be a great seller. That is why Persil is sold in French supermarkets under the name \u201cLe Chat\u201d, which means \u201cThe Cat\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

2<\/strong>. The new car that is broken<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

It is certainly not our intention here to speculate about the reliability of Lada cars, and we don’t know how well the cars have sold in Spain. However, we can only assume that the name of the \u201cNova\u201d model may have caused Spaniards to question its reliability. After all, the Spanish phrase \u201cno va” simply translates as \u201cdoesn\u2019t go\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

3. Two cars, one problem<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

People say many things about men who drive big cars. In Brazil, the Ford Pinto produced in the 1970s probably did little to dispel these insinuations, and the same goes for the Mitsubishi Pajero in Spain. The latter is now called \u2013 far more appropriately \u2013 \u201cMontero\u201d in Spanish-speaking countries. But please check the web for yourself to see what the names mean translated into the respective local language.<\/p>\n\n

4. An epic Fiat fail<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Finnish could hardly be described as a world language, but the wealthy country with a population of approximately 5.5 million is nevertheless an important market. However, a small car from Fiat is unlikely to be a common sight on the roads there. That\u2019s because \u201cUuno\u201d in Finnish is colloquial word for an idiot. And as good as the car may be, the Finns might not want to be seen driving that particular model. This example also explains why translators must also consider colloquial terms that may not be found in any dictionary.<\/p>\n\n

5. Electrifying translation<\/strong> of brand names<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

It is a wonderful, innovative, and elegant automobile. One that is kitted out with an electric drive system and every conceivable luxury. One that we would all love to own. The Audi E-Tron. In France, however, the brand name could cause associations that definitely do not do the car justice. Just look up the translation of the French word \u201c\u00e9tron\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

6. Horse power<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Western brand names are often very difficult to pronounce in Chinese<\/a>. Therefore, many Western companies keen to gain a foothold in China with their products will try to find Chinese equivalents for the names. The literal translation of \u201cBMW,\u201d which stands for \u201cBayerische Motorenwerke\u201d in German, would be \u201cBafaliyafadongjichan\u201d \u2013 not a particularly catchy name. But the Bavarian company is lucky. The phonetic translation can be shortened to \u201cBaoma,\u201d which in turn means \u2013 most appropriately \u2013 \u201cprecious horse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

7. Libido libation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

7Up, the Sprite alternative from the Pepsi Group, is also popular in China. Probably because it tastes good. But perhaps also because it sounds rather enticing. That is because \u201c7 Up\u201d in Chinese means to go to bed with someone seven times. The name has since been changed to a word that translates simply as \u201cseven joys\u201d. However, that may well amount to the same thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A car whose name doesn\u2019t go at all and a lemonade that implies lustful intentions: The translation of brand names is a sophisticated art form in marketing but can present many pitfalls that even major corporations sometimes overlook. We have compiled a \u201cbest-of\u201d misleading brand names \u2013 along with examples of how some companies elegantly\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1181,1169,1182,1173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts-en-gb","category-industries-fields-en-gb","category-localization-en-gb","category-marketing-en-gb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23694"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28145,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23694\/revisions\/28145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.act-translations.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}