The importance of doing your research: Brandfailures talks about the real problems of translation names, but starts off by repeating the long-debunked story of the Chevy Nova.
Of all products, cars have had the most translation problems. When people chuckled at General Motors’ Chevy Nova in Latin America, the automotive giant was perplexed. Until, that is, someone pointed out that ‘Nova’ means ‘It doesn’t go’ in Spanish.
It's that "someone pointed out" that's the clue to bad writing and no research. Who was that "someone," in the author's mind? I picture someone standing in a Chevy dealership, hands in his pockets, informing a sales rep that "nova" means "don't go," and then the dealer slapping his forehead and calling GM. Make sense? No, it doesn't make sense, and that should have been a clue to the author that he needed to do a bit more legwork. Repeating urban legends as if they are insights does not engender trust on the part of your readers.
9:40:09 AM 
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