OT: Toyota

[Joel S. Berson]

At 2/25/2010 11:20 AM, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>On Thu, Feb 25, 2010 at 11:02 AM, Laurence Horn
><laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> >
> > At 9:51 AM -0600 2/25/10, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:
> >>
> >>The linked video is immediately followed by one entitled "Japan reacts
> >>to Toyoda hearings" -- never seen it spelled that way before.
> >
> > He's the president of the company.  I don't know why the company name
> > went voiceless when the family name was voiced.  Anyone?
>
>BBC explains:
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8534294.stm

The company is apparently voiceless now -- or perhaps speaking in
some false register.

If I were Toyoda, I'd flush the name now -- the left half of the
kanji suggests (to this westerner) "down the toilet".

Joel

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