Caterpillar, the heavy-equipment manufacturer, has had a registered trademark for CAT since 1949. Now it’s extending CAT to a footwear line. And not just steel-toed boots, either: these oxfords are women’s street fashion. (Duets Blog)
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The method Google Maps uses to name city neighborhoods “is often mysterious. The company declined to detail how some place names came about, though some appear to have resulted from mistakes by researchers, rebrandings by real estate agents — or just outright fiction.” (New York Times)
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An analysis of electric-scooter-company names. (Catchword)
Lime scooter
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Last month The Weinstein Company – besmirched by the sins of its founder, Harvey Weinstein – renamed itself Lantern Entertainment. The choice was “an easy out” and a missed opportunity, writes brand strategist David Gaglione, who offers some better options. (MediaPost)
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Speaking of shame, you know those tsk-tsking messages you get when you opt out of a website’s email list? There’s a Tumblr for them. (ConfirmShaming)
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Why do Supreme Court nominees have “sherpas”? (Ben Zimmer for The Atlantic) I wrote about sherpa for the Visual Thesaurus back in 2013, which means the column is no longer paywalled.
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On Anglocreep – the flow of Britishisms such as bespoke and amongst into American English – with commentary from astute observers Ben Yagoda, Lynne Murphy, and Jesse Sheidlower. (Huffington Post)
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Why is there a dead lion in the logo of Lyle’s Golden Syrup? (The Sun)
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Why the sound of a brand name matters. (Fast Company)
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really hoping a hyphen is missing. pic.twitter.com/78dYT9h3mU
— Jed Schmidt (@jedschmidt) August 7, 2018
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The quislings of American collapse. (Umair Haque) I wrote about the history of quisling in July.
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Junction, inside lane, and other British words for roads and parts of road systems, some of which may surprise Americans. (Macmillan Dictionary) I wrote about one of those words, chicane, back in 2010.
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Oruktor Amphibolos, Quadricycle, and other names for cars that were proposed before we all settled on automobile. (Jalopnik, via MJF)
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