Posts Tagged ‘sounds’
Our not-so-sound language a natural for spelling bees
Thursday, June 3rd, 2004
Korean has a simple correspondence between spelling and sounds. English, with its many foreign influences and irregularities, does not.
“Spelling bees are largely an American phenomenon, something that is unique to the English language,” said Paige Kimble.
‘Wordcraft’ details birth of brand names, semantics of ‘berries’
Tuesday, May 25th, 2004
There is a moment every marketer both dreams of and fears. It is the time when a brand name, by decree of the dictionary or whims of the zeitgeist, becomes a common noun or a verb. This can be a blessing — the ultimate validation of a name that is both catchy and meaningful. But it can also be a curse. The more widely a word is used, the harder it is to legally protect as a trademark. So we “xerox” a memo, “fed-ex” a package or “google” a blind date, to the chagrin of squads of copyright attorneys in corporate headquarters.
In a brand name’s infancy, however, the thought of gaining this kind of cultural currency is an inspiration to professional namers, says Alex Frankel in his new book Wordcraft: The Art of Turning Little Words Into Big Business (Crown, $24.95).
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