The Confines Of Compounding Brand Names

Do I really want to buy a FLYSCOOTER?

I took two semesters of Linguistics in college. I was thinking that I was finally going to master the rules of grammar for speaking and writing. After months of learning about “bilabial fricatives” and “plosive p’s” the only rule of grammar that I had learned was this: language is a constantly evolving entity that due to societal style choice and usage has constantly changing rules.

I think about this whenever I see the practice of brand name creation that takes two words and smashes them together to make one. Why do companies do this? I understand that you will have more of a chance trademarking a word nobody has heard of than a word we all know, but you must be careful.

Seesmart® sells “earth friendly LED solutions.” I don’t know if they will help me to “see smart” or if one “sees” better after he buys an LED solution from this “mart.” Of course the main reason for this complication is the logotype design. Neither the “S” or “M” differentiates themselves from the rest of letter forms in the logo.

I know Fly Scooters are cheap alternatives to Vespas, but at first glance you may find the logotype worrying.

It reminds me of a story I read in one of my Linguistic classes about the pitfalls of the “hyphen.” Last Century two newspapers in Chattanooga merged, “The News” and “The Free Press” to form “The Chattanooga News-Free Press.”