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Comment by jodrellblank | Hacker News Reader

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jodrellblank·

It's a little kid's toy because the name sounds a bit like the French word for little kid's toy, so you won't buy one?

Did you buy an Acer Ferrari laptop because you thought it was really a Ferrari sports car?

What a daft reason for not buying one.

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The name sounds _exactly_ like 'little kid's toy' in French, so, indeed, it follows that it will carry those connotations to French speaking people (you're not one, I'm guessing). Shakespeare may have found a rose by another name smelling just as sweet, but in the centuries since his time we've learned that varieties called 'poo-poo' just don't sell at the garden center.

Not exactly the same. An English speaker would pronounce d-sounds before the js in "JooJoo" that wouldn't be there in the French "joujou".

The 'Wii' sold OK in English speaking markets so I don't see what the problem is.

Nintendo also has a lot more marketing to back up their choice of name.

Ha - I'd thought this was smart. We expect Japanese things to be a bit oddball by our standard, and this delivered.

The Chevy Nova completely flopped in Spanish speaking countries, primarily because in Spanish, "Nova" means "no go".

No, it didn't: http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

Whoops! Thanks for the re-education.

But there were some other cars that had their names changed, like the "Pagero", that sounds like someone that frequently masturbates :-)

That's an urban legend, kind of like saying a dinette set called "Notable" would flop in English speaking countries because we would assume it has "no table".

Here's the snopes: http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

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