Where Did HE Washers Get Thier Names?

[funguy10]

I was just thinking recently about how HE washers got thier names. I already have a few ideas:

GE Harmony: The Washer & Dryer talk to each other using a serial cable like one on a computer. This makes them communicate in perfect harmony.

Whirlpool Duet: I don't know why the USA version is called Duet but I know the German version the Dreamspace is named because it is so BIG inside.

Dyson Contrarotator: "Contra" means against. the 2 drums rotate against each other.

Here are the ones I'm not sure of and want to know thier name origins:

Kenmore Oasis
Whirlpool Cabrio
Maytag Bravos
Whirlpool Duet (USA)
Whirlpool Duet Sport
Maytag Epic
GE Adora
Fridgidaire Affinity
Maytag Neptune
Whirlpool/ Kenmore Calypso
Bosch Axxis
Bosch Nexxt

Could everybody help me with this and give me information. Thanks.

 

[sudsmaster]

I'd be glad to throw out some guesses, as soon as someone can tell me where Toyota came up with the name "Camry".

;-)

 

[oxydolfan1]

Isn't a camry a bird?

 

[brettsomers]

do you REALLY need Oasis explained? or Epic? or Neptune?

i think "Duet" may have been Whirlpools way to suggest that the Duet washer and matching dryer were a system that worked best with only each other, no?

 

[rp2813]

Not only Camry, but what about VW's Passat and Toureg (which I prefer to call the Coriander)? They tend to give different names to their cars sold in Mexico but that doesn't seem to be the case for cars sold in the US.

 

[cycla-fabric]

CAMRY Definition

Here is what on found on the word CAMRY

The name "Camry" comes from a phonetic transcription of the Japanese word kanmuri (Š¥, ‚©‚ñ‚Þ‚è), which means "crown", as did the names of the Toyota Crown and Toyota Corona. Also notable is that the word "Camry" is an anagram for "My car."

 

[aldspinboy]

According to my whirlpool rep, DUET name, came when both the amiercan & germen engineers came together on a project. ( Hence DUET) American engineers wanted a big drum and simplcity & the germen factory to provide the machinery i believe baucknett is the distributor of Duet washers. Darren k

 

[lavamat78800]

Bauknecht

In Germany, there are no DUET-washers sold!
Only those Dreamspaces!

 

[earthling177]

Passat is a trade wind, and the name of a sailing ship named after it. I suppose they named the car after the ship.

Tuareg are a nomadic people of Arab descent who travelled the Sahara, also known as the Blue Men of the Sahara due to the blue clothing they wear.

I have also heard the reference to Camry meaning Crown, but I can't find it now.

 

[sudsmaster]

Cycla-Fabric comes closest to what Camry means, but the reality is that "Camry" deliberately has no meaning. It reflects a school of thought in product naming, especially among Japanese car makers, to find words that don't exist in any language and use these synthetic words to name their products. The reasons include: a new name may mean something embarrassing in some language; the product name may be the same or too similar to an existing product, leading to copyright/trademark infringement lawsuits; a name that is a real word may elicit emotional responses in the targeted customer base, interfering with the effort to sell the product based on its intrinsic merits.

Toyota seems to be at the forefront of the bland, meaningless, neutral name game. In addition to Camry, there's Solara, Prius (alas, I always think of priapus, lol), Yaris, for example. Other nonsense car names may include Ciera (you betcha), Justy, Sienna, Vega, Fiero... the list goes on and on.

As for HE washer names... they don't really have to mean anything. Sometimes they just seem to evoke water (Neptune) or clean (Oasis) or friendly (Affinity) or quality (Crown, Imperial) or something like that, in a vague sort of way. Some washer mfg's, like some car mfg's, just sidestep the whole name game by givng their products various numbers. As in Miele 4840.

Not sure where Whirlpool got the Cabrio name. Were they intending to parody Leonardo de Cabrio? LOL.

 

[earthling177]

Oasis is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source. WP probably chose the name in reference to the small amount of water used by the high efficiency washer.

Cabrio or cabriolet is a car with a folding or retracting roof, which are usually known as soft top convertible in America. Originally, a cabriolet was a light two-wheeled carriage, also with a folding roof, drawn by a single horse -- it would seat two people. The design seems to have originated in France in early 19th century. No idea why WP would choose the name unless it was in reference to the fact that cabriolets were lightweight and more comfortable than the usual previous carriages, but I guess that knowledge is lost on us modern creatures.

 

[whirlcool]

For some reason when I think of the name Camry, I think of an old overhead cam 6 cylinder engine with a noisy timeing chain. Clank, clank, clank.

When Humble oil changed their name to Exxon back in 1972 they spent a ton of money checking all over the world to make sure it meant nothing.
There are tons of horror stories about naming a product that has bad connotations in certain countries/cultures.

General Motors had a car that when they sold it in South America, the name translated to "Doesn't Go".

Braniff International had a DC-8 aircraft painted Lavender and Black. In Mexico and South America passengers actually complained about it. It seemed that color combination represented death.

 

[sudsmaster]

That would be the Chevy Nova

"No va" could be interpreted in Spanish as "no go".

 

[dascot]

We had the Vauxhall Nova in the UK as well (different car though), which in the rest of Europe was the Opel Corsa. It's been the Corsa in the UK for the last couple of generations (probably about 14-15 years).

The Passat is actually named after the wind. VW (and Maserati and Hholden too) named some cars after winds for some reason : Bora, Ghibli, Vento, Passat, Jetta, Scirocco, Khamsin, Barina, Shamal, Torana, Camira, Mistral

Some people claim the Golf is actually named for the Gulfstream, but I suspect that's a case of trying to fit into a theme by sheer luck rather than the actual case.

Anyway, looking at the list, as people have already said - look at the water themes.

 

[fa_f3_20]

I thought that maybe the GE Harmony was so named because it was, as I understand it, a joint project between GE and LG.

Back in the '70s Toyota was infamous for picking car model names whose English spellings all started with 'C'. There was the Corolla, Corona, Celia, Cherry...

 

[funguy10]

I'm not trying to put anyone down but this is a washing machine site. If you want to talk about the name origins of cars, make a thread in the Super(off-topic) forum.

 

[nurdlinger]

America's Changing Its Name to NiXXon...

Any old NatLamp fans here?

 

[funguy10]

Nope. Only washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher fans. I don't know what a NatLamp is but you should post about it in the Super(Yellow) forum.

 

[nurdlinger]

You are right about the wrong forum. I realized it right after making the post. (NatLamp is the National Lampoon Magazine) Post was triggered by someone's reference to Humble changing to Exxon.