Translating product names into different languages can be difficult. According to a classic story, back in the 1970s, Chevy tried to market their Nova in Latin American countries but had very few sales. It was only later that someone told them that "Nova" supposedly means "it doesn't go" in Spanish. (I don't speak Spanish, so I can't vouch for this story.)

I've also heard of stories about slogans not translating well. One story has it that the slogan "It brings good things to life" was translated into "It brings your ancestors back from the dead" in Chinese.

One of my coworkers commented about the difficulty in finding language neutral names for products and companies several years ago. He said, "You know, before they changed the name of the company, Exxon spend millions to make sure they came up with a name that wasn't a profanity in any language. Now, Exxon is an obscenity in every language."

Hey, he's an artist.