7 Comments
Feb 3Liked by Nancy Friedman

Here’s a gift article from the Atlantic about the use of + in naming. Right up your alley...

The sign has become inescapable in the world of branding.https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/02/why-the-is-everywhere/677345/?gift=MKFTBveuYuEmgTs30zlsSqkmlmyg2iqM7DVqY7Gofs4

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Thanks! I wrote something similar a couple of years ago. https://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/candlepwr/what-do-plus-signs-add/

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Feb 3·edited Feb 3Liked by Nancy Friedman

I liked your version more. Or should I say + ?

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Oct 21, 2023Liked by Nancy Friedman

There is a women's clothing company in Australia called 'Commonry'. I find it clumsy to say and the 'common' part does not (for me) give the right vibe for a fashion chain, not that I'm ever likely to need to buy anything from them. I couldn't find anything quickly about the origin of the name. Any comments on 'Commonry'?

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I'm not familiar with the Commonry brand but don't find it especially hard to pronounce. Fashion brands take a lot of liberties with their names; for example, there's a high-end brand ("distressed" jeans: US$620) called Acne; there used to be an expensive San Francisco clothing boutique called Acrimony; and a mid-high Canadian brand managed to thrive for 30+ years despite being called Teenflo. https://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2010/05/a-name-change-at-teenflo.html

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To me, 'toggle' can be broader than switching one thing on or off. For example, one can toggle between displaying a small font size and a large one. In other words, there is toggling between alternative states.

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It's possible that I'm simply too close to the computing sense of "toggle," but that name has zero resonance for me regarding insurance.

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