The World of Words: Vocabulary for College Success ... - eLibrary

Did You Know? 69Did You Know?Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.How Do Cars Get Their Names?The process of naming automobiles involves feeling, expression, andaction. A car’s name is important to its image. By choosing words thatexpress speed, power, glamour, science, or even economy, manufacturershope to give you positive feelings that translate into action when you makea purchase.Long ago, Detroit auto pioneer Henry Leland named early cars afterhis heroes. Cadillac is taken from Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac, theFrench adventurer who founded Detroit in 1701. The Lincoln honoredPresident Abraham Lincoln, the man Leland voted for in the 1860election.From that time on, car names have been selected with care. Carnames have suggested nobility and royalty. Chrysler’s LeBaron is a nobletitle; Dodge’s Coronet is a crown; El Dorado was the name of a mythicalSouth American ruler who was supposedly covered with gold.The animal kingdom has also been a popular source of car names.Autos like Jaguar, Stingray, Barracuda, Viper, and Cougar suggest speedand power. Bird names usually bring to mind the freedom of flight. Forexample, five car models have been called Eagle. But the 1912 Dodo wasa disaster. It was named for an extinct bird that could not fly. Like the realdodo, the car “never got off the ground.”More recently, numbers and abbreviations suggest advanced technologyin names like the Nissan 350Z or the Honda S2000. Another trendis to use words that connote exciting travel. Names such as the FordExplorer, Expedition, Escape, and Excursion, as well as the Toyota LANDCruiser invoke the idea of a journey.Today, with concerns for economy and the environment, many newcars are hybrids of electric and gasoline power. One name for a popularToyota hybrid is taken from a language spoken two thousand years ago.The Prius, one of the first hybrids, means “to go before” in the ancientlanguage of Latin. Aveo, produced by Chevrolet, means “I desire” in Latin.The name given to a recent Honda hybrid, the Insight, means a clearunderstanding of a complex situation.Autos sold in Japan may carry English names that seem odd in theUnited States. There is the Honda Life Dunk, the Daihatsu Naked, and theToyota Deliboy.You studied two car-name words in Chapter 1: Honda’s Accord andDodge’s Intrepid. In Chapter 8, you will study bravado, which was thesource of Oldsmobile’s Bravada. The Bravada and Intrepid are no longerbeing produced, but the Accord continues to be a bestseller.