In the pharmaceutical business, companies hoping to jump on the profit bandwagon of their competitors often release products that have no significant clinical difference to the market leaders. Makers of these “biosimilars” have long argued that their products should be allowed to carry the same generic or non-proprietary names as the name brand leaders. However, many of the major drug franchisors have fought tooth and nail against this practice, claiming territorial rights. Caught in the middle of the billion-dollar onomastic fight has been the US government. Recently, however, the FDA proposed a solution. The generic drug system would be augmented with a random set of four letters. Learn more about the proposed naming rules.
About Names: From first man to sexiest man alive, ‘Adam’ endures
Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. This week’s column explores Adam.… Read More
In a first, ‘third gender’ to cast votes
In a recent article published by “The New Indian Express”, it was announced that, for the very first time in Indian history, the electoral roll for the Kerala Assembly elections would have a third gender option.
How to pronounce EURO players’ names correctly
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has been continually beleaguered by reports of embezzlement, bribery, and general skullduggery. In an effort to shine the spotlight in a completely different direction, the UEFA has started a new campaign to show the ways the multi-billion dollar conglomerate helps to bring people together.
Visitors to the UEFA website can now find a helpful guide to correctly pronouncing the names of the top European team players. For example, to help fans (in particular English-speaking fans) pronounce France’s team players, the following advice is given: “Basic school French should help. Dimitri Payet’s surname sounds like ‘pie-ette’— equivalent to the sound of Liam Gallagher from Oasis saying ‘I ate.’” Although well-meaning, advice like this seems to have caused more jeers than cheers among Europe’s football fans.
Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources Sessions at the Leeds International Medieval Congress, Leeds, England, July 4-7, 2016
The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources will be holding several special sessions on cross-linguistic and cross-cultural onomastics at the Leeds International Medieval Congress 2016 from the 4th to the 7th of July 2016.
Anniversary of the LGBT-inclusive preferred name and pronoun policy approval
2016 marks the first year anniversary of Ohio University’s historic decision to recognize the right of OU students to have their preferred name and pronoun used on official university listings such as class rosters, advising lists, and student ID cards.
In conservative Utah, naming road for gay leader stands out
Salt Lake City now has a street named after Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay politicians to run for and win public office in US history. In 1977, the social activist was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors. A year later, he was assassinated along with San Francisco Mayor, George Moscone. Although a few Utah residents fought against the proposed toponym, according to Stan Penfold, Utah’s first openly gay councilman, the majority of the community embraced the move to add “Harvey Milk Boulevard” to the state’s rich toponymic history.
Join the ANS
If you enjoy reading about names, we encourage you to join the ANS and share your name news with us!… Read More
About Names: Roots of ‘Summer’ stretch back to antiquity
Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. This recent column explores seasonal names.… Read More
The world’s endonyms on a map
“An endonym is the name for a place, site or location in the language of the people who live there.” This world map depicts is labeled in endonyms. Take a look!… Read More