The passing of New York Times language columnist William Safire has been well noted here (by VT executive producer Ben Zimmer) and elsewhere. The death of Edward Gelsthorpe, who died September 12 and whose Times obituary appeared directly beneath Safire's on September 28, has been less commented on. Yet in his way Gelsthorpe had almost as powerful an influence on the world of words as did Safire.  Continue reading...

Have you heard? This economic slump we're in isn't just a recession: it's a mancession — a downturn that hurts men more than women. The term has been popularized by a University of Michigan economics and finance professor, Mark J. Perry, whose Carpe Diem blog employs lots of charts and graphs to drive home the point that male workers are taking it on the chin.

That's bad news. But it turns out there's one sector men in which men are doing just dandy. I refer, of course, to the market in man-words and man-brands.  Continue reading...

The minimalist billboard gets our attention: black capital letters against a stark white background. But the words spelled out by those letters are cryptic: SWORE RAY. Swore Ray? Ray swore? What did he say? And what do his profanities have to do with the advertiser, the Monte Carlo resort and casino in Las Vegas?  Continue reading...

Microsoft's new search engine may not vanquish Google, but it certainly has captured a huge share of attention among everyone interested in brand names.

In case you missed the news reports or the relentless ads, Microsoft launched Bing at the end of May. Almost immediately, there was speculation about what the name was intended to mean or evoke.  Continue reading...

On July 7, 2009, NBC Universal's Sci Fi Channel — the network responsible for the hit series "Battlestar Galactica" and such original movies as "Ice Spiders," "Android Apocalypse" and "Mansquito" — will complete a radical rebranding process. When it emerges from the laboratory, it will offer a retooled programming menu and a new name: Syfy.  Continue reading...

When I begin a name-development project, I'm open to all possibilities that are relevant to my client's objectives. After all, I'm aiming to develop not one name but a list of 250 or so from which I can identify 15 to 20 strong candidates.

Still, there are words and word parts I avoid — and if you're naming your own product or company, I recommend you avoid them, too.  Continue reading...