4 ms·

"Bard" always struck me a bad naming - unfamiliar, unfriendly, too cerebral. I think the name was an impediment against establishing a household brand.

• gnicholas 3y ago
  It's possible that it sounds even worse in other languages. That is, it might sound like bad words, onomatopoeia for bodily functions, or common exclamations (that would lead to lots of false positives). I think it could have been established as a brand in the US, given Google's scale. Put a lute in the branding, run some funny commercials, and you're done. EDIT: one thing no amount of branding can fix — the likelihood that people reach for "doh, Bard" (a la Simpsons) when Bard messes up. I could see that becoming a thing.
• happytiger 3y ago
  Maybe named for The Bard’s Tale?
• anonymouskimmer 3y ago
  > unfamiliar, unfriendly, too cerebral The Witcher is one of Netflix's most watch shows. I'd also imagine that most people in English speaking countries have been exposed to Shakespeare's nickname in high school English classes.
  • LudwigNagasena 3y ago
    It’s generally a common trope in fantasy and Romanticist literature. It’s also a word that exists in virtually all European languages in a similar form (bard, bardo, barde, бард), although similar but different forms may be a negative.
    • anonymouskimmer 3y ago
      Yes, but I didn't want to assume that most people read literature. Even if they hadn't, "bard" is definitely out there.
      • CydeWeys 3y ago
        I don't think it's that out there. You'd have to be quite uninformed to have never heard of it. It's no verderer or reeve (medieval positions that most people actually will not have heard of).
        • anonymouskimmer 3y ago
          I meant "out there" as in a word people are exposed to. Not "out there" as in outside of most people's experience.
          • CydeWeys 3y ago
            I knew what you meant, and I disagree. I don't think the word "bard" is out there in the sense of being a word people are exposed to.