(Chevy) Nova --Query

[Laurence Horn]

>>>I think "nova" in Spanish means
>>>about the same as "nova" in English, right?
>>
>>Well, "nueva", but there are number of more high-register (scholarly,
>>literary, scientific) doublets involving "nova-" in which the
>>diphthongization didn't apply, e.g. "novela".  I think the first
>>association for a Spanish speaker with "Nova", with that stress
>>pattern (a point Snopes mentions), would be 'new' and not 'doesn't
>>go'.
>
>I didn't mean to refer to the Spanish cognate "nuevo"/"nueva" (or to the
>English cognate "new"). I meant exactly "nova", which means AFAIK "suddenly
>[and transiently] very bright star" or so, same in Spanish as in English.
>Of course "new" is the primary meaning of "nova" in Latin, which would also
>be widely recognized among Spanish- or English-speakers. It's not obvious
>to me which of these ideas (if either) was intended to be evoked when GM
>chose the name.
>
>-- Doug Wilson

The problem with the stellar nova as an inspiration for the car name
is that, at least from what I know about them, they burn out pretty
quickly and die--not the best quality when you're promoting a car
model.

Larry