But our discussion was not as excited as that created after the Russian President's trip to Nigeria, and the subsequent furore over the naming of the new energy company, Nigaz. Okay wet blanketting pedants will insist that the country's called NyeGeria and not NeeGeria, but we will not let them spoil our fun.

Reading about this on the interweb, I fell upon these other gems. Here's a few others, which like the Russo-Niggerian example were unlikely to have been intended but which have proved precious on many dull days over the years. There's the tale of car manufacturers going global and being compelled to reconsider their brand names. 

A Pajero in many South American countries is the equivalent of the English, wanker. Impolite name, so was born the Montero and the Shogun. There was also a car called the Pinto that suffered a similar fate in Brazil, men were not too excited about driving a machine whose name meant small penis around.

Okay, finally. The tale is told of Premier League club Arsenal being unable to play in Italy in their official kit when they were sponsored by SEGA. SEGA, is the Italian for saw, which is again a euphemism with similar meaning to that for Pajero in Latin America. Nice.

Have any other such gems yourselves? 

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