Comments on: Name watching at Uwajimaya

By: Erma

Erma — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:16:19 +0000

Inspector,

You are right that there are tons of great product names at Uwajimaya. You didn’t mention my favorite one: Couque d’asses.

http://images.google.com/images?q=couque%20d%27asses

It’s quite tasty, but the name is what really sells it.

By: Danny Bloom

Danny Bloom — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:32:43 +0000

btw, there’s a candy bar in Taiwan sold as GUTS on the package in English. I asked some college kids why the name is GUTS and they said the adverts on TV say that if you eat this candybar, you will have GUTS, ie, courage, as in “he has guts”. Go figure.

By: Danny Bloom

Danny Bloom — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:30:22 +0000

By the way, you know the guy in SF who named the Kindle the Kindle. Now many users of the Kindle reading device are using the word as a verbn as in “I’m kindling now on my Kindle” or “I’m kindling a very good book now, call you back later” [text message to a friend]…. interesting. Just as googling entered our vocab as a verb, after a few false starts, now kindling is poised to make its entrance too. Maybe? Maybe not. Time will tell. But google “kindling as a verb for Kindle” and you will see.

By the way, speaking of naming: i am on a campaign to create a new word for “reading on a screen”, as opposed to reading on paper surfaces. Any idea what a good word for this might be? Some have suggesting diging, for digitial reading, others have suggested screen-reading, scanning, grazing, skimming….but i came up with the neologism “screening” as in “I’m screening the news now on my computer, call you back later” [text msg to friend]. You can read more about my “screening” campaign as “zippy1300″ on Google search under blogs….

By: Danny Bloom

Danny Bloom — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:50:01 +0000

Great post. I have been living in Asia, Japan and Taiwan, since 1991. I am so used to all these interesting uses of English and uber-English and proto-English and post-English and Chinglish and Japlish, that I hardly even notice anymore. One world, one people, one language. Jibberish!

By: The Name Inspector

The Name Inspector — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 03:11:11 +0000

Thanks for stopping by, Jen, and for that extra research. The plot, like the beard, thickens.

By: Jen Burton

Jen Burton — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:35:36 +0000

RE: Beard Papa (from Japan btw): “La barbe à papa” (lit. “Papa’s beard”) means “cotton candy” in French. I always assumed the cream puff name was a reference to that (fluffy, light, sweet), which still doesn’t explain how anyone thought hair would be an appetizing association (for cotton candy or cream puffs).

It appears that it’s even more bizarre and literal than that. According to the video on their website, the character Beard Papa came up with his confection “as he stroked his fluffy, white beard,” and vowed to make a delightful treat “just as fluffy and lovable as my beard.”

Judging by the lines in their SF outlets, the name hasn’t hurt their business.

By: The Name Inspector

The Name Inspector — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:04:29 +0000

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the tips. Yeah, it looked pretty good to me. I’ll have to give it a try.

By: Chris Ryland

Chris Ryland — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:24:37 +0000

Oops, Filipino, of course.

By: Chris Ryland

Chris Ryland — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:24:00 +0000

Beard Papa’s is, I think, Phillipino in origin. There’s one at the foot of the Marriott San Francisco next to Moscone Center. The best cream puffs etc. you will ever taste in your life.