Language Log:

At lunch a couple of weeks ago, I asked a bunch of doctoral students and postdocs what the gender of Schorle is. Much inconclusive discussion resulted. For one postdoc they’re both feminine (die Apfelschorle, die Weinschorle); for another, they’re both neuter (das Apfelschorle, das Weinschorle); and still another has die Apfelschorle but das Weinschorle. The German Wikipedia, de.wikipedia.org, says that the term Schorle, in a different formation, dates back to the 18th century, and that the word is feminine, except in southern Germany — where Freiburg is — where occasionally, rarely, it is neuter.

The insurance company Aviva Life Insurance (recently started in India) has a name that has made me cringe every time I see its advertisements. A- is a standard prefix for without, and viva is a form of the latin vivere, meaning “(to) live”. Viva also connotes vitality in common English usage. Taken together, Aviva sounds like it means “without living” and by association, “without vitality” and “without life”. Just the sort of cheery notion a life insurance company should be spreading.

Aviva (their old name was CGNU Plc) actually has a webpage saying that their new name resonated positively “among 15,000 customers in 15 countries, being associated with life, vitality and living well.” I wonder which 15 countries they polled, and, more importantly, who their brand manager was.

An aside: why do the content mills (I like that phrase) like the word ‘consumer’ so much? Has the image of couch potatoes slumping before television made them used to the passive ‘consumer’? A customer by contrast is an active participant in a sale. He haggles, dissects, cribs, drives you wild. I think the content mills have forgotten how to deal with a creature like that, with their increasing dependance on statistical models of ‘consumer’ behavior.