Alert, Nunuvut

Located in Canada on the tip of the Nunavut territory, Alert is a small village that lies on the Arctic Ocean only 500 miles below the North Pole. It is widely considered to be the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world (with a whopping five year-round residents), and also one of the most inhospitable. Interesting name.

Do you know how Shemaroo got its name?

Shemaroo Entertainment was started in 1962 by the Maroo brothers (Buddhichand, Atul & Raman)in collaboration with the Shethias. SHEthias + MAROO = Shemaroo. And thus was born Shemaroo.

Ramon Estevez derived his stage name partially from this archbishop. What did he call himself?

"Well, when i was a boy growing up, the first tele-evangelist really was Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. And I thought of him as a magnificant actor, and so I took his name and I put it together with the Martin. And people thought I looked Irish anyway, and so I thought alright I'll , ill surrender to this and so I invented Martin Sheen."

A capital city named 'capital'?

From Samit Basu's piece on Kazakhtan. Check out Astana.

"There’s a genre of computer game called the city-building game; the SimCity and Caesar series are good examples. Your task, as the player, is to take an area of land and develop it—roads, housing, banks, markets. You build places for people to live in, and wait for settlers to drift in from the corners of the screen. Once they’re in, your task is to keep them happy.

There is no city in the world that reminds me of this type of game as strongly as Astana (meaning capital), the new capital of Kazakhstan."

Take a peek at this name

On December 23, this year, Kim Peek, the real Rain Man whose almost unimaginable powers of memory were coupled with severe disabilities and who inspired the Oscar-winning film role played by Dustin Hoffman, has died of a heart attack in his home town of Salt Lake City, aged 58.

What does Eclairs mean?

Eclair in French means 'Lightning'.

Which brand is named after this gentleman?

Grundig, the german giant in consumer electronics, is named after Max Grundig.

A movie called Talaq Talaq Talaq

I was wondering about the sensation such a movie title would cause. If an orthodox muslim were to read this aloud in front of his wife, it would lead to a divorce! I googled to see why no ever thought of this. Actually to be fair, BR Chopra wrestled with the idea, way back in the eighties. He dropped it when there were objections from islamic bodies. He later released the movie as Nikaah. Yes, the film that featured this lovely song...



Posted by Anantha.

How wrestlers get their names

The sport of professional wrestling is punctuated with some of the more outlandish names in the history of branding. (For instance, the dashing fellow shown here goes by the delightful moniker 'Nacho Libre'!) In this post, I direct you to the riveting story behind another wrestling/er brand, the 'Rock and Roll Express'. And more.

"Have you ever wondered where some of the names wrestlers use come from? Well they can only come from two places. Either the wrestler gives himself a name or the booker/creative people do. In earlier times, a guy could get a name in 30 seconds. Now, it might take weeks to run copyright and trademark searches. The Rock and Roll Express didn't have to wait long. Click here for the story of not only how their name was arrived at but also their gimmick."

Speaking of which, who is your favourite brand of wrestler? Mine's, hands down, 'The Undertaker'. In fact, the mere mention of the name sends a chill down my spine. Talk about brand personality.

Orissa is now 'Odisha'

For more reasons than one, this is a better name. For one, it's easier to spell. For two, the 'd' in the middle gives it a nice point of emphasis stronger than the earlier 'r' and for three, 'Odisha' is how the people of Odisha pronounce 'Orissa'. So it makes sense. (Names are more memorable when spelled the way they sound. ex: Orissa v/s Odisha.) Incidentally, Oriya is now 'Odia', which in my opinion is not as memorable as 'Oriya'. (It's complicated and can be explained only in an elaborate Powerpoint presentation.) All said and done, what do names, and name-changes, like Odisha, Chennai, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai say about the principles of naming? Think about it.

A Tamil Name for a Swiss Watch

Just discovered this 1983-born Swiss watch. It's derived from the tamil word Kattamaram. The idea was to position it as the ideal watch for sailing.

Factonama: Joomla

Joomla, the content management system brand, derives its name from the Anglicised version of the Arabic word Jumla which means 'all together'. Probably the open source origins, influenced the choice. Or may be since the name itself was a colloborative effort of so many people.

Factonama # 11

Volkswagen's new pickup truck is called Amarok. It's has been derived from the name of the giant wolf in Inuit mythology. Unlike normal wolves that hunt in packs, Amarok is supposed to do it all alone.

Factonama: 9rules

The site 9rules which prides itself in spotting the best content from indie blogs gets its name from a set of 9 rules, the founders set themselves. They are:

1. Love what you do.
2. Never stop learning.
3. Form works with function.
4. Simple is beautiful.
5. Work hard, play hard.
6. You get what you pay for.
7. When you talk, we listen.
8. Must constantly improve.
9. Respect your inspiration.

Factonama # 10

Asics, the shoe company, began its life as Onitsuka Tiger. In 1977, it merged with GTO and Jelenk to form ASICS Corporation. Asics is an acronym of the Latin phrase "anima sana in corpore sano" which translates to "a healthy soul in a healthy body" or "a sound mind in a sound body". Source: Wikipedia.

Factonama # 9

Delsey, the No.2 luggage manufacturer in the world had its origin in the Delahaye company which, in 1911, specialized in the manufacture of cameras, typewriters and record players. Mr. Delahaye and the Seynhaeve Brothers joined forces in 1946 to set up Delsey. Their individual and joint experience lead to them setting up a department producing moulded plastic "travel items" in 1965. This resulted in the introduction of the first Delsey hard-side suitcase. Courtesy: Wikipedia.

Factonama # 8

Lieven P. Van Neste is the man who owns the most number of domain names in the world. Some say this Belgian natural medicine doctor has well over 200,000 domain names in his kitty. Originally, his intention in amassing the names was to sell and make enough money for his wellness resort. One wonders, whether he ever achieved his goal. The easiest way to find out is to make a bid for one of his dot coms.

Factonama #7

Henry Saint Clair Fredericks (born May 17, 1942), changed his name to Taj Mahal. An internationally recognized blues musician who folds various forms of world music into his offerings. A self-taught singer-songwriter and film composer who plays the guitar, banjo and harmonica (among many other instruments), Mahal has done much to reshape the definition and scope of blues music during his 40+ year career by fusing it with non-traditional forms, including sounds from the Caribbean, Africa and the South Pacific. He said the idea to change his name to 'Taj Mahal' came to him in dreams about Gandhi, India, and social tolerance. Seems particularly relevant, or irrelevant (depends on your frame of mind), in times like these. (Text and image from here.)

Factonama # 6

Detachment 88 is the name of the Counter Terrorist Squad of Indonesia. Formed after the 2002 Bali bombing, it is funded, equipped, and trained by the United States. The number '88' is taken from the largest number of casualties suffered by a country in the Bali bombings incidents. In that incident, 88 Australians lost their lives. The number '88' also has some other meanings. The number '8' represents continuity since this number does not show the beginning and the end like other numbers. The number '8' also looks like police handcuffs. Source: This site.

Factonama # 4

The Danish butter brand Lurpak debuted as Lur Mark in 1901. Lur is a Scandinavian wind instrument. It has been immortalised as the visual mnemonic in the Lurpak logo. Wikipedia informs us that any instrument that receives sound is referred to as a lur, today. For example, a telephone handset is called telefonlur.