Saturday, April 15, 2006

What's in a Name?

The other day -- while labeling a slew of postcards for a GPoWS mailing -- I happened to be watching the 'ol boob tube. Amongst the gazillions of tv commercials was one that actually got me to thinking -- not about the product, mind you -- but about something altogether different.

The particular ad concerned a car or truck, I don't remember which one. It was one of the newer models and its name was derived from a city. I soon realized that a great many models of various types of vehicles are named after geographical locations. Here are a few that came to mind.
Chevy
Tahoe (NV)
Cheyenne (WY)
Mailbu (CA)
Bel Air (CA)

Dodge
Aspen (CO)
Daytona (FL)
Durango (Mexico)
Monaco (Country)

Cadillac
Seville (Spain)
Eldorado (KS or AR)

Pontiac
Catalina (CA)
Le Mans (France)

GMC
Yukon (Canada)

Toyota
Tacoma (WA)
Anyhow, I got to thinking about which towns will never, ever have a vehicle model named after them; the kind of towns with a weird name that doesn't conjure up the kind of imagery that, say, Malibu or Seville does.

Though certainly not an exhaustive list, here's what I came up with. Please feel free to add to the list.
Toad Suck (AR)
Humptulips (WA)
Tittybong (Australia)
Bumpass (VA)
Dogpatch (AR)
Knob Noster (MO)
Chugwater (WY)

6 comments:

  1. The Toyota Totten. A very badly selling light truck.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Here are a few more from Australia:

    Burrumbuttock http://www.humeshire.nsw.gov.au/about/3922.html

    Come-By-Chance http://www.walgettshire.com/Townships/come_by_chance.html

    Bong Bong http://www.highlandsnsw.com.au/towns/bong.html

    Fairy Meadow http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/library/localinfo/fairymeadow/history.html

    Mount Misery http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1process_details.cfm?place=185&Historic=false

    ReplyDelete
  3. Truth or Consequences, NM

    Most of the others were already mentioned.

    What, you wouldn't buy a car called the Humptulips?

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. Aberdeen, WA.

    But then, I don't buy American cars anymore.

    ReplyDelete

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