As a continuation of a topic I brought up in http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=372138
(BTW, why was the thread locked? It seems that it was appropriate discussion of the Honda Element in The Car Lounge.)
WhatBlueVW said
WhatBlueVW, what you said is both right and wrong. And I, too, stand corrected. Lumina is apparently, a real word in English. Lumina is one plural form of lumen.
Also, Diamante is a real word.
Like Integra, I thought Sentra and Passat were made up names meant to, possibly, evoke images from a real word. Integra from integral or integrate. Like Acura could have been inspired by accurate, hence their tag line: Precision Crafted Automobiles. Sentra could be from sentry.
And Passat? Is there any relation to passant? Is Passat completely made up? Does it mean anything in any language.
IIRC VW went through a phase when their cars were named after winds or currents. Golf from Golfstrom, German for Gulf Stream. Jetta evokes the jet stream, although jet stream in German is Strahl Strom. Go figure. Scirocco is a variant of sirocco, a hot desert wind.
I've no idea what Corrado is from or meant to evoke. Spanish? Italian? I've seen it as an Italian proper name, e.g. "Uncle Junior" from The Sopranos is "Corrado Erico 'Uncle Junior' Soprano"
Finally, did you know Miata is not 'made-up' and actually means reward in Old High German?
Besides those mentioned, are there other seemingly 'made-up' car names that are true, real words in English or otherwise?
edit: fixed tags
[Modified by Dinosaurius, 11:53 PM 5-24-2002]
(BTW, why was the thread locked? It seems that it was appropriate discussion of the Honda Element in The Car Lounge.)
WhatBlueVW said
quote:[HR][/HR]Err... Integra, Lumina, etc. are real words... Just not English.[HR][/HR]
Is this true? WhatBlueVW, what you said is both right and wrong. And I, too, stand corrected. Lumina is apparently, a real word in English. Lumina is one plural form of lumen.
Also, Diamante is a real word.
Like Integra, I thought Sentra and Passat were made up names meant to, possibly, evoke images from a real word. Integra from integral or integrate. Like Acura could have been inspired by accurate, hence their tag line: Precision Crafted Automobiles. Sentra could be from sentry.
And Passat? Is there any relation to passant? Is Passat completely made up? Does it mean anything in any language.
IIRC VW went through a phase when their cars were named after winds or currents. Golf from Golfstrom, German for Gulf Stream. Jetta evokes the jet stream, although jet stream in German is Strahl Strom. Go figure. Scirocco is a variant of sirocco, a hot desert wind.
I've no idea what Corrado is from or meant to evoke. Spanish? Italian? I've seen it as an Italian proper name, e.g. "Uncle Junior" from The Sopranos is "Corrado Erico 'Uncle Junior' Soprano"
Finally, did you know Miata is not 'made-up' and actually means reward in Old High German?
Besides those mentioned, are there other seemingly 'made-up' car names that are true, real words in English or otherwise?
edit: fixed tags
[Modified by Dinosaurius, 11:53 PM 5-24-2002]
