Spanish Word of the Day

Quote: Pacomartin

If you saw a route taxi on the street in a small town, you would recognize it, and not attempt to flag it down.

I flagged one down in Toluca, oh, about five years ago. I thought it was a cab. I was surprised they still had cars serving as peseros. Though the livery was similar to a cab's, it did not have "taxi" written on it.

The definition in the DRAE is:
pesero, ra. 1. m. y f. Hond. carnicero (‖ persona que vende carne)

Is there a connection? Is this type of transport being called "meat wagons"?

Quote: Pacomartin

Is there a connection? Is this type of transport being called "meat wagons"?

No. They're called that because long ago the trip in one cost one peso.

Quote: Nareed

No. They're called that because long ago the trip in one cost one peso.

In January 1993 when the new peso was introduced it was at 32 US cents to one peso. Are you talking about further back in time than that? I remember that in Tijuana less than a decade ago, the route taxis were about 40 to 50 cents a person, but the presumption is that you would pay $1 if you paid in American money.

I've no idea. That's the urban legend.

Literally everyone in America has heard the story of how Chevrolet marketed the Chevy Nova automobile in Latin America. Since no va means "it doesn't go" in Spanish, car buyers shunned the car. The problem is that the story is pure urban legend. There is no kernel of truth, as most Spanish speaking buyers understood the difference between an English name, and a Spanish verb. In reality Chevrolet did reasonably well with the Nova in Latin America, even exceeding its sales projections in Venezuela.

It's like the story that the phrases "Fornication Under Consent of the King" or "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" is the source of a popular vulgar word. It's an urban legend. Acronyms didn't exist 400 years ago.

Quote: Pacomartin

In reality Chevrolet did reasonably well with the Nova in Latin America, even exceeding its sales projections in Venezuela.

If memory serves, it was known locally as "Chevrolet Nova." Now, no one seeing "Nova" would read it as "no va." So that part of the legend is bunk.

I do recall, vividly, a model in the mid-70s known as "Chevrolet Malibu Nova." The Malibu was very popular in the late 70s through early 80s, with the big, and I mean really BIG, 8 cylinder engine. I owned one briefly in the mid-80s, and did that car ever run.

Quote: Nareed

If memory serves, it was known locally as "Chevrolet Nova." Now, no one seeing "Nova" would read it as "no va." So that part of the legend is bunk.

The original Chevy Nova was sold in 1962. The urban legend about the car not selling in Spanish speaking countries is reproduced in countless American marketing textbooks. Since it seemed like a good cautionary tale,no one ever checked the facts to see that it wasn't true.

An Old French word "notable" meaning "well-known" was adopted into English 700 years ago. You might as well write in a marketing book that nobody could sell a dining set in Appalachia that was said to be notable, because the hillbillies thought the set had "no table".

Quote: Pacomartin

The problem is that the story is pure urban legend.

I also heard the story and assumed it to be true. Upon checking snopes, I see you're right.

Quote: Wizard

Upon checking snopes, I see you're right.

It's a good example of someone inventing a story to support a predetermined idea. Marketing teachers want to tell a story about cultural ignorance, and the story fits, so they repeat the story without any thought. In reality most people around the world recognize words in context, and would much more likely to see "Nova" as a cognate of "Nueva" than as "no va".