Embarrassed GM to Rename Car with Risque Overtones
QUOTE
Thu Oct 23,11:41 AM ET
MAKUHARI, Japan (Reuters) - General Motors Corp will rename its Buick LaCrosse in Canada because the name for the car is slang for masturbation in Quebec, embarrassed officials with the U.S. automaker said Thursday.
GM officials, who declined to be named, said it had been unaware that LaCrosse was a term for self-gratification among teenagers in French-speaking Quebec.
GM officials in Canada are working on a new name for the car, a sedan that will go on sale next year to replace the Buick Regal.
The mix-up is reminiscent of another GM vehicle with an unfortunate name. In the 1970s, GM exported its Chevrolet Nova to Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, only to be told that Nova translated into \"doesn't go.\" Despite the name, and contrary to popular folklore, the car sold well.
I have no idea why the dateline is Japan.MAKUHARI, Japan (Reuters) - General Motors Corp will rename its Buick LaCrosse in Canada because the name for the car is slang for masturbation in Quebec, embarrassed officials with the U.S. automaker said Thursday.
GM officials, who declined to be named, said it had been unaware that LaCrosse was a term for self-gratification among teenagers in French-speaking Quebec.
GM officials in Canada are working on a new name for the car, a sedan that will go on sale next year to replace the Buick Regal.
The mix-up is reminiscent of another GM vehicle with an unfortunate name. In the 1970s, GM exported its Chevrolet Nova to Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, only to be told that Nova translated into \"doesn't go.\" Despite the name, and contrary to popular folklore, the car sold well.
Edited to add this additional weirdness:
Stiff Discipline After Schoolboys' Viagra Prank
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LONDON (Reuters) - Six British schoolboys were rushed to hospital after taking the erection-enhancing drug Viagra at lunchtime for a dare, the school said on Thursday.
....
The Sun newspaper quoted a source at the school as saying: \"By the time the afternoon lessons began, there was no hiding what they had done.\"
Paramedics took the six squirming boys to the nearby Royal Berkshire Hospital, where they were monitored until the effects wore off.
....
That must be an interesting job.....
The Sun newspaper quoted a source at the school as saying: \"By the time the afternoon lessons began, there was no hiding what they had done.\"
Paramedics took the six squirming boys to the nearby Royal Berkshire Hospital, where they were monitored until the effects wore off.
....
[ October 23, 2003, 02:20 PM: Message edited by: twin58 ]
