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Dah Dah Duh — New Volkswagen Names!

UserPost

5:51PM
May-24-08


martha

martha

Admin

posts 817

As , it's hard to know what the naming consultants at Volkswagen were thinking when they named their new models Touareg, Tiguan, and Routan.

I can't help wondering if Touareg is some kind of anagram. (”Outrage”? “Age Rout”? “A Toe Rug”?)

8:43PM
May-24-08


dilettante

Member

posts 265

Like naming consultants everywhere, they were no doubt looking for unique names.

The Touareg are desert nomads in North Africa. Yes, the name does sound like an anagram!

that the word Tiguan is the basis for the the city name "Tijuana."

The Routan Islands are in the East Siberian Sea. (Though the name makes me think of one of the villains on Dr. Who!)

1:11PM
May-31-08


martha

martha

Admin

posts 817

Thanks for this, Wordsmith! But the question remains: WHY? I think these names are wackadoo. Come to think of it, if they want something that sounds unusual, why not name one of those cars a "wackadoo"? Hmmmm, on second thought, maybe not. Still, I think these names just look like someone just closed his eyes and banged on the keyboard, don't you?

1:14PM
May-31-08


martha

martha

Admin

posts 817

And speaking of sorry names for products, with his dad? He speaks for me.

12:34AM
Nov-29-08


desertpete01

Member

posts 70

Just to set the record straight in case anyone's curious, about Tijuana and "tiguan". Tiguan is a Cochimi word, and the northern boundary of Cochimi territory was about 200 miles south of TJ. Because of that, I'm more inclined to go with the Rancho Tia Juana explanation, and that the name of said rancho does not have its origins in tiguan.

And I agree with the uncomplimentary comments about nomenclature. Actually I've had a beef about that ever since the Volare came out. Without the accent on the final e, it would of course be Italian for "to fly", not so much of a prob, and reminiscent of that Dean Martin song. But with the accent it becomes Spanish for "I shall fly". Goofy, sez oy. They were probably trying to sound French. I seem to remember there were a number of other ersatz French product names back in the 70s. I don't remember any of them off hand, but I do remember they made me cringe.

4:36AM
Dec-02-08


Peter

Guest

Ah you probably remember "Le Car". It was a terrible POS that was manufactured by Renault in France and sold by AMC here in the US. It was a terrible car with a terrrible name.

12:42PM
Dec-05-08


martha

martha

Admin

posts 817

(Peter: POS?)

1:01PM
Dec-05-08


martha

martha

Admin

posts 817

Oh, hello. Just found an online list of acronyms and picked out the applicable POS.

Duh Duh Duh!

8:01PM
Dec-09-08


oli

Member

posts 27

desertpete01 said:

Just to set the record straight in case anyone’s curious, about Tijuana and “tiguan”. Tiguan is a Cochimi word, and the northern boundary of Cochimi territory was about 200 miles south of TJ. Because of that, I’m more inclined to go with the Rancho Tia Juana explanation, and that the name of said rancho does not have its origins in tiguan.


And I agree with the uncomplimentary comments about nomenclature. Actually I’ve had a beef about that ever since the Volare came out. Without the accent on the final e, it would of course be Italian for “to fly”, not so much of a prob, and reminiscent of that Dean Martin song. But with the accent it becomes Spanish for “I shall fly”. Goofy, sez oy. They were probably trying to sound French. I seem to remember there were a number of other ersatz French product names back in the 70s. I don’t remember any of them off hand, but I do remember they made me cringe.


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