As American as Apple Pie

[George Thompson]

As it happens, the story next to this on on the Times' front page deals with the finding of a 5500 year old Bronze Age shoe during an excavation in a cave in Armenia.  The doctoral student who actually uncovered the shoe said "I thought, "Oh my God, it's a shoe."  To find a shoe has always been my dream."
Back in Meriden, Conn, some kids dreamed of playing in the majors, and others dreamed of becoming President.  I don't recall any who dreamed of finding a shoe.  Is this perhaps an Armenian thing?  Or is generational?

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

----- Original Message -----
From: Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
Date: Wednesday, June 9, 2010 9:52 pm
Subject: As American as Apple Pie
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU

> That's the description that pops up on the link in Google News for the
> NYT story on the new approach to Chevrolet at GM (or, as NYT puts it,
> "G.M.").
>
> This is the Google headline:
>
> > A Nickname as American as Apple Pie Is Sent to the Junkyard
>
> And this is the one from NYT website:
>
> > At G.M., Saving Chevrolet Means Sending Chevy to the Junkyard
>
> A few lines from the story:
>
> http://nyti.ms/aVwOgF
> > And one way to present a consistent brand message, the memo suggested,
> > is to stop saying “Chevy,” though the word is one of the world’s
> > best-known, longest-lived product nicknames.
> > “We’d ask that whether you’re talking to a dealer, reviewing dealer
> > advertising, or speaking with friends and family, that you communicate
> > our brand as Chevrolet moving forward,” said the memo, which was
> > signed by Alan Batey, vice president for Chevrolet sales and service,
> > and Jim Campbell, the G.M. division’s vice president for marketing.
> > ...
> > One expert on branding said G.M.’s effort ran counter to a trend in
> > which corporate names had become more casual. The consultant, Paul
> > Worthington, head of strategy for Wolff Olins, a marketing and
> > branding firm, noted that FedEx had replaced Federal Express, KFC. had
> > supplanted Kentucky Fried Chicken and “even RadioShack has evolved
> > into the Shack.”
> > ...
> > “Once it became an American icon, America took it away from G.M.,”
> > said Mr. Guldstrand, 83. “They made it a Chevy. You’re doing a
> > disservice to all the people by telling them not to call it a Chevy.”
>
> I'd like to say that it's one of the dumber business decisions in US
> history (never mind the language issue). It doesn't quite rank with
> Moxie abandoning advertising. And, I suppose, that's only my opinion.
> It's not about the trademark (GM owns both) and not about genericide (no
> one calls a Ford a Chevy). So, to me, it's a mystery. Perhaps they
> thought that any news is good news. Or, maybe, the are counting on that
> plastic can to meet the revenue projections.
>
> VS-)
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org