Some recently encountered names that made me wonder: What were they thinking?
If you saw the name GLIXEL out of context, wouldn’t you assume it was a drug? Or a device for, say, glucose monitoring? I sure did.
But no.
According to a May 22 story in the New York Times:
Wenner Media, the company behind Rolling Stone, Men’s Journal and Us Weekly, is set to introduce Glixel, a stand-alone site devoted to gaming. The site won’t go live until October, but the company plans to unveil the concept on Monday with its first weekly newsletter.
G for “games,” ixel for “pixel”? I have no idea. And believe me, I searched.
Gus Wenner, son of Rolling Stone founder Jan Wenner, is in charge of the new venture. (Maybe the G is for Gus.) “In my mind,” he said in an interview last week, “gaming is today what rock ’n’ roll was when Rolling Stone was founded.”
Here’s what I say, for what it’s worth: It’s a long, steep fall from the poetry of a name like Rolling Stone – or even the slyness of Us (they’re just like us!) – to the synthetic vacuity of Glixel.
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A minor-league affiliate of the New York Mets baseball team, the Binghamton Mets in Binghamton, New York, will have a new name by next year. Because no one ever seems to learn from history, the team is leaving it up to the public to make the final choice. The New York Times reports:
The team has selected six finalists, and fans will now vote for a winner. Four of the choices allude to the local merry-go-rounds that have given Binghamton the nickname the Carousel Capital of the World: the Rocking Horses, the Rumble Ponies, the Timber Jockeys and, yes, the Stud Muffins. The choices are rounded out by Bullheads, celebrating a local fish, and Gobblers, in honor of the wild turkeys of the region.
It could have been worse:
Many of the fans’ suggestions, like Stallions and Stampede, were rejected because they were in use in other leagues and sports. Other nominations were just a little too off the wall. [Team president John] Hughes cited “Baseball Players” as one of the suggestions that made him chuckle but did not make the cut.
Eli Altman and A Hundred Monkeys tweeted about the story.
why you don’t do naming contests: part 1,000,001 https://t.co/n5mZocv8Bx
— eli altman (@elialtman) May 23, 2016
And then we had a little fun with it.
.@elialtman @ahundredmonkeys Let's start a write-in campaign for Bingy McBingface.
— Nancy Friedman (@Fritinancy) May 23, 2016
@Fritinancy @elialtman @ahundredmonkeys Batsy McBallface. Pitchy McHitface.
— mikepope (@mikepope) May 23, 2016
Or Ballsy McBatface?
@mikepope @elialtman @ahundredmonkeys Spitty McSlideface. Catchy McMoundface.
Or get Microsoft as a sponsor: The Bings.
— Nancy Friedman (@Fritinancy) May 23, 2016
@Fritinancy @elialtman @ahundredmonkeys Boaty wept.
— Word_Chucker (@Word_Chucker) May 23, 2016
For context, see “Boaty McBoatface” in my May Linkfest.
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Finally, there’s this *headdesk* of a domain.
Someone really needs to think twice about their domain name idea.... pic.twitter.com/zEXmAXslyr
— Darlene (@SarcasticWonder) May 11, 2016
(Via Dustbury.)
Is it possible that no one looked at that domain and saw Fag Ass Traps?
And nope, it isn’t a Photoshop hoax. Fagasstraps.com is the URL for Evans Co. Danish-Style Furniture Supply in San Diego; Fagas is the brand name of a type of strap used in woven chair seats. A page on the Betech (Germany) website explains:
Originally, the Fagas™ straps were produced at J.M. Birking & Co which was a Copenhagen rubber factory founded back in 1931. This is why many know the rubber straps under the name of "J.M. Birking", imprinted on the webbing in addition to the product brand "fagas".
That ™ notwithstanding, Fagas is not to be found in the U.S. trademark database.
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