“The truth is that the Chevrolet Nova’s name didn’t significantly affect its sales: it sold well in both its primary Spanish-language markets, Mexico and Venezuela. (Its Venezuelan sales figures actually surpassed GM’s expectations.) The whole “Nova = “doesn’t go” tale was merely another in a long line of automotive jokes, like the ones about “Ford” being an acronym for “Fix or repair daily” or “Found on road dead” or “Fiat” being an acronym for “Fix it again, Tony!” These humorous inventions might adequately reflect the tellers’ feelings about the worthiness of various types of automobiles, but we don’t really expect that anyone ever refrained from buying a Ford because he actually believed they needed to be repaired on a daily basis.