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Fun fact. Nulis means zero (0) in Lithuanian. I wonder what other product names unintentionally hit some word in some exotic language. One from top of my head w

Fun fact. Nulis means zero (0) in Lithuanian. I wonder what other product names unintentionally hit some word in some exotic language. One from top of my head was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Laputa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Laputa (we know what "la puta" means in Spanish)

slantyyz 9y ago
There are many of these for car names: Chevy Nova (no va), and Mazda Miata sounding phonetically similar to mierda in Spanish.
tinyrick2 9y ago
"nulis" also means "write" in Indonesian
- rudilee 9y ago
  The correct form is 'menulis', 'nulis' is more like the informal daily use form
  - jogundas 9y ago
    'Mėnulis' means 'the Moon' in Lithuanian. No getting away from our language :)
ggambetta 9y ago
The canonical example is the Mitsubishi Pajero, later renamed Montero in a lot of Spanish-speaking countries.
- TremendousJudge 9y ago
  for those that don't speak Spanish, it literally means 'wanker'
  - dmix 9y ago
    Why did they choose that word? Did it have a meaning in another language besides Spanish or did they just like the sound? Edit: found my own answer on Wikipedia, it's the latin taxonomy word for a feline: > It was named after Leopardus pajeros, the Pampas cat, which is native to the Patagonia plateau region of southern Argentina.[3] But pajero in Spanish is also a common term of abuse, usually translated as "wanker" or "tosser", thus perhaps why alternative names have been used for many markets. It is known as the Mitsubishi Montero (meaning "mountain hunter"[4]) in the Americas (except Brazil and Jamaica), and Spain, while in the United Kingdom it is known as the Mitsubishi Shogun. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Mitsubishi_Pajero https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Mitsubishi_Pajero
- slowmovintarget 9y ago
  I was going to say that the canonical example is the Chevy Nova ("no go") but TIL that that never actually happened. It was a made up story. That Mitsubishi one is hilarious.
glenneroo 9y ago
Wix in German (from the verb wixen) means wank. Added bonus: many of my German speaking friends use it (wix.com).
speps 9y ago
Mazda isn't the best at naming it seems, the Mazda MR2 spelt one by one sounds like "merde" in French.
- vtbassmatt 9y ago
  MR2 was Toyota.
drusepth 9y ago
I actually wrote a quick web app [1] to translate a word from a ton of languages into english (so writers could see if their "made up" words would have any meaning to any demographic), but it could be used here by just putting your product/brand name in. (Please note it's actually hitting Google Translate 50 times since they don't have bulk translate, so results may take a second.) Fun fact: Nullis seems to mean zero in Ukrainian, Pesian, Latvian, and Estonian as well, while also meaning "no" in Welsh, Latin, and Irish. [1] https://www.notebook.ai/app/babel https://www.notebook.ai/app/babel
- c-smile 9y ago
  "Nullis" has nothing with Ukrainian as it uses Cyrillic alphabet. And if to use transliteration then "нулис" is not an Ukrainian word either.
  - drusepth 9y ago
    Interesting, good to know. I think we can blame that on Google Translate [1], I guess. Dunno where to find better (automated) translations, but I'd be happy to use that source (as long as it has an API) instead! [1] https://i.imgur.com/PBswmaH.png https://i.imgur.com/PBswmaH.png
- vincnetas 9y ago
  In ukranian zero is нуль (nul) it sounds almost identical to nulis (only without endig -is)

slantyyz 9y ago

There are many of these for car names: Chevy Nova (no va), and Mazda Miata sounding phonetically similar to mierda in Spanish.

tinyrick2 9y ago

"nulis" also means "write" in Indonesian

rudilee 9y ago
The correct form is 'menulis', 'nulis' is more like the informal daily use form
- jogundas 9y ago
  'Mėnulis' means 'the Moon' in Lithuanian. No getting away from our language :)

ggambetta 9y ago

The canonical example is the Mitsubishi Pajero, later renamed Montero in a lot of Spanish-speaking countries.

TremendousJudge 9y ago
for those that don't speak Spanish, it literally means 'wanker'
- dmix 9y ago
  Why did they choose that word? Did it have a meaning in another language besides Spanish or did they just like the sound? Edit: found my own answer on Wikipedia, it's the latin taxonomy word for a feline: > It was named after Leopardus pajeros, the Pampas cat, which is native to the Patagonia plateau region of southern Argentina.[3] But pajero in Spanish is also a common term of abuse, usually translated as "wanker" or "tosser", thus perhaps why alternative names have been used for many markets. It is known as the Mitsubishi Montero (meaning "mountain hunter"[4]) in the Americas (except Brazil and Jamaica), and Spain, while in the United Kingdom it is known as the Mitsubishi Shogun. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Mitsubishi_Pajero https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Mitsubishi_Pajero
slowmovintarget 9y ago
I was going to say that the canonical example is the Chevy Nova ("no go") but TIL that that never actually happened. It was a made up story. That Mitsubishi one is hilarious.

glenneroo 9y ago

Wix in German (from the verb wixen) means wank. Added bonus: many of my German speaking friends use it (wix.com).

speps 9y ago

Mazda isn't the best at naming it seems, the Mazda MR2 spelt one by one sounds like "merde" in French.

vtbassmatt 9y ago
MR2 was Toyota.

drusepth 9y ago

I actually wrote a quick web app [1] to translate a word from a ton of languages into english (so writers could see if their "made up" words would have any meaning to any demographic), but it could be used here by just putting your product/brand name in. (Please note it's actually hitting Google Translate 50 times since they don't have bulk translate, so results may take a second.) Fun fact: Nullis seems to mean zero in Ukrainian, Pesian, Latvian, and Estonian as well, while also meaning "no" in Welsh, Latin, and Irish. [1] https://www.notebook.ai/app/babel https://www.notebook.ai/app/babel

c-smile 9y ago
"Nullis" has nothing with Ukrainian as it uses Cyrillic alphabet. And if to use transliteration then "нулис" is not an Ukrainian word either.
- drusepth 9y ago
  Interesting, good to know. I think we can blame that on Google Translate [1], I guess. Dunno where to find better (automated) translations, but I'd be happy to use that source (as long as it has an API) instead! [1] https://i.imgur.com/PBswmaH.png https://i.imgur.com/PBswmaH.png
vincnetas 9y ago
In ukranian zero is нуль (nul) it sounds almost identical to nulis (only without endig -is)