(no subject)

[brrm]

Nanjing Automobile Group (who own MG after MG-Rover's collapse) has decided to backronymify MG. Originally, it stood for Morris Garages - a Morris dealer in Oxford which used to customize Morris cars to produce sportier versions.

Now it stands for...

Modern Gentleman.

Urgh.

Nanjing’s Zhang Xin has commented that the firm "wants Chinese consumers to know this brand as Modern Gentleman, to see that this brand represents grace and style."

Comments

[meirion.livejournal.com]

that's .... just so wrong.

yuk. i feel sick now.

-m-

[met24.livejournal.com]

Yeuch!

Rightly or wrongly, you could hardly call MG-Rover's more traditional buyers 'modern gentlemen'.

I wonder what other backronyms we can come up with, apart from the usual ones for FIAT.

[chi-ryu.livejournal.com]

Best Chinglish Backronym ever...?

[cultureofdoubt.livejournal.com]

I was about to post describing my expression, then I realised your icon had it nailed.

[arron-shutt.livejournal.com]

Sure MG from a chinese perpective is "Maoist Government". Now there's a brand name any self-respecting dictator-on-the-go like myself could sign up to.. Hitler has the Volkswagen, and the Chinese have MG! ;)

[frodomorris.livejournal.com]

It's a bit sad that the Morris garage (longwall street, on the corner of holywell street) has almost nothing to draw attention to the fact that it's the centre of the Oxfordshire performance motorcar industry and the home of one of Britain's most respected (erm, forgot the word erstwhile) car marques. Still, it's not exactly in the correct place for a motor museum :-)

[met24.livejournal.com]

And SAIC came up with Roewe, which if pronounced the German way sounds vaguely like Rover, but the Pinyin is allegedly Rongwei, which goes off in completely the opposite direction.