We have had threads about how cars come by their names. My latest observation is that Skoda, a Czech company owned by VW, are slightly odd. In the late twentieth century they called models things like, "1202" or "1000MB." Then they became aspirational and tried, "Favorit" and "Rapid." It was a short journey from this sort of thing to the 2006 concept car "Joyster." Following that "...er" route, they now have the "Roomster." But how to explain the Skoda "Yeti"? The answer is that it's an SUV and SUV names have to seem rugged and outdoorsy. http://www.igorinternational.com/process/suv-name-taxonomy.php I think car companies have missed an obvious one, so here's my present to General Motors: the Chevrolet Ghengis. Very rugged indeed. Having just driven 1300 miles in a 1.0 liter Chevrolet Spark, I can aver that Chevrolet certainly know their Scottish authors. Neil Munro would have been proud. The Spark has also been sold as the Daewoo Matiz II, the Chevrolet Matiz, the FSO Matiz, the Pontiac Matiz, the Pontiac G2, the Chevrolet Exclusive, the Chevrolet Joy, the Formosa Matiz and the Chevrolet Taxi 7:24 Chronos. It was the center of an intellectual rights fight with the Chinese, who called their car the QQ. The design was originally rejected by FIAT. On the backroads of Britain, it was a perfectly adequate car, one whose natural disposition is to tootle (which means going along at about forty mph). Made me think of the opening sequence of "All Creatures Great and Small," or Richard driving around with Mrs. Bucket in "Keeping Up Appearances." "I'm minding the pedestrian, dear." Do carry on. David Ritchie, Portland, Oregon------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html