![]() ![]() There’s just one problem with the story: It’s untrue. ![]() , tireless investigator of urban legends, has done the research and definitively debunked the “no go” story. It exceeded sales projections in Venezuela.įar from being a failure, the Chevy Nova sold well in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries.The Chevy Nova was never renamed for the Latin American market.People throughout the Spanish-speaking world had heard of Brazilian bossa nova, too.Įven before the Chevy Nova, “Nova” was a familiar brand south of the border: it was the name of a gasoline brand sold by Pemex, the state-owned petroleum company.If a fluent speaker of Spanish wanted to complain that his car wasn’t running, he wouldn’t say “no va.” He’d say “no funciona” or “no camina”: “it isn’t functioning” or “it isn’t running.”.The latter has a stress on the second syllable and means “doesn’t go” the former has a stress on the first syllable and means (as it does in English) “a big, bright star” or “Latin for ‘new’.” A native Spanish-speaker would be no more likely to confuse “nova” and “no va” than an English-speaker would be to confuse “notable” and “no table” or “carpet” and “car pet.” In Spanish, “nova” and “no va” are pronounced differently and have different meanings.So, as a public service, here’s my summary: Nevertheless, not everyone has heard the news.According to Snopes, GM “was aware of the translation and opted to retain the model name ‘Nova’ in Spanish-speaking markets anyway, because they (correctly) felt the matter to be unimportant’.”.If the “no go” story has been so thoroughly discredited, why is it still popular? Gerald Erichsen, who writes about Spanish-language topics for, has a theory. “Like many urban legends,” he writes, “the story has the appeal of showing how the high and mighty can be humiliated by stupid mistakes.” Snopes observes that the tale “makes its point so well – just like the apocryphal one about George Washington and the cherry tree – that nobody wants to ruin it with a bunch of facts.”Īnd there’s some logic to the legend. Linguistic screening is an important element of global branding: you don’t want to risk an international incident over an unintended vulgarity or an inappropriate connotation. By all means, vet your brand name for language conflicts as thoroughly as you do for legal ones. ![]()
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