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what's in a name

To: british-cars@autox.team.net
Subject: what's in a name
From: wade@ops.tridom.com (Wade Massengil)
Date: Sat, 10 Dec 94 12:49:58 EST
Greasings and Lubrications, All...

        Having to do with the current string RE: All Sports Cars Refered
to as Being MG's. I call this "name brand slang" 

        Not everyone will understand the Southern US slant of some of
these examples but here goes...

        Name Brand      Explanation

        Kleenex         Any facial tissue used for blowing your nose
                        we call a 'kleenex'

        Coke Machine    a vending machine that sells soft-drinks of
                        any flavor whether made by Coca-Cola or not.

        Frigidare       My grandmothers refrigerator was a Westinghouse
                        but she called it a Frididare anyway.

        Band-Aid        If you cut your finger, you get an adhesive
                        bandage and stick on it. May or may not be
                        the Band-Aid brand.

        Ace Bandage     If you sprain something you go to the druggist 
                        and ask for an Ace Bandage, you will get this
                        long elastic thing to wrap it up in. Likely
                        not made by the Ace Elastic Bandage Co.

        Liquid-Wrench   Both of these, mistakenly, are used to refer
        or WD-40        to any spray solution used to loosen rusty
                        bolts and such.

        Linoleum        Any modern durable counter-top material people
                        will refer to as linoleum.

        Jockey Strap    An athletic supporter that may/may not be made
                        by the Jocky company

        Twinkies        Any creame filled junk food pastry 

        Therefore, it's no big deal to continue the pattern to include...

        MG, MGB,        Any sports car of non-American origin, usualy
        MG Midget       4-cylinder with a rag top that requires some
                        tinkering around with from time to time.

        My most common Q and A routine goes like this...

        "Hey, mister, that's a really nice Midget!"

        "Thank you, it's an MGB"

        "MGB? Why do they call it that?" or "Are you sure it's not a 
        Triumph Midget?!?!" or "Yeah, that's what I said. Midget"

        Oh, well. I've decided if somebody likes the car enough to say
        so, in todays callous, non-involved, isolated world, if seeing
        Daisy the Yellow Car at the pump makes somebody feel good, then
        I will not make them feel foolish or silly but instead just say
        "Thank you, I'm glad you like my car" and let it go at that.

        And, always wipe of the top of Coke cans with a Kleenex. You
        never know where they've been.

        Wade "That's the first yellow Saab I've ever seen, 
                                        but I like it." Massengill 

        


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