I recently heard someone on the radio describe the Prius as having a cult-like following among its owners, similar to (but stronger than) that of the Saturn cars. Few contemporary vehicles inspire such feeling in their owners that they form clubs and newsgroups. Saturn owners made news years ago about their gatherings and pilgrimmages to the Saturn factory. Now Prius owners are doing the same. Are we a cult? Is the Prius a cult possession? Are there those among us who have not happily spoken to strangers and raved when asked about our car? Are any of us out to save the world one car at a time? This interests me because I have a bonafide cult possession, the Vespa motorscooter. I have been happily obsessed since 1987. My fellow Vespisti arrange rides, organize clubs, etc. In 2001, while on my honeymoon in Italy, We made a pilgrimmage to Piaggio's Pontadera plant, where true Vespas are made. A-Dog out. P.S. Don't drink the Kool-Aid.
i guess i completely missed the saturn hoopla. i vaguely remember a few comments made about the car, but i remember nothing even remotely like the wave the Prius has made. in fact, i cant remember the last car that made this big of an impact for this long. The Prius was #1 car in demand for the 10th (soon to be 11th i would imagine) month in a row which is basically every month of the 2004 model year. i dont see that the demand is lessening or the waiting list getting significantly smaller.
There are Prius owners who just drive their car and enjoy the mileage. The rest of us, yes, we are a cult. You don't need kool-aid to be a cult, though. It's okay to use an obsidian knife and a full-size Chac Mool. Volunteers, anyone?
PriusChat is not a cult. This is not the car you are looking for. They can go on their way PriusChat is not a cult.
I had a 1991 Saturn. Great car; I just got tired of the stick shift. There were owner reunions and collaborative work projects (in which Saturn owners would get together and, for example, assemble a playground). I don't think we're going to drive back to Tsutsumi, however. I was going to add a Jonestown joke, but the punch line was too long.
I just love Vespas! I have two myself, a 69 P200E and a 2002 ET4 Love 'em equally. Espresso time just thinking about the Vespa Prius is like the Saturn, only Prions can't drive to Japan yet -Robbie.
Although enthusiasm surrounding owning a Prius is 'infectious', I am not sure I want to be referred to as a 'Prion'. We might be confused with Mad Cows.
well the Prius goddess Priadite believes in freedom of expression and also allows Priuscites, Priusee's, and Toyotans as a general term although the latter in her mind signifies a lack of community pride despite that obvious allegience to brand loyalty.
Don't get me wrong DaveinOlyWA, I have no problem with freedom of expression. I was just pointing out that that the word 'Prion' has a pre-existing definition, as an infectious protein (responsible for BSE/Mad cow disease, CJD, Kuru etc). Maybe we can have webster add Prius cult member as the number two definition. :lol:
actually that would make Prion one of the many words that has multiple meanings. Websters estimates as many as 500 new definitions are added each year for existing terms. as the spoken word's meaning is what the speaker intends the meaning to be, many times old words take on new meanings as the world evolves in a social, technical, and political sense. the coining of words can be difficult and generally (unless its in the entertainment field) is not readily accepted. as new uses for an existing word propagates locally, the word can be loosely termed as "slang". if the term becomes widely known enough, then Websters incorporates the word into its mainstream dictionary. realize of course that lexicon based dictionaries are more stringent about what gets added and where, but Websters long since realized that most people dont give a rats nice person as to the old english derivation of a word and neither do i to be honest with ya. i sincerely hope that we as the Prius community will generate enough synergy to create our own language and our own terms. i think we have done a fairly good job of that already. get my drift?? i mean meaning?.... i mean jist?... i mean
being that i am from Olympia, Priupian sounds good!! but as long as you feel in your heart that you are a member of the United Priustates of Toyotadom, whatever you call yourself is fine with me.
Specialized vocabularies can serve a real purpose, as in science and technology, where new concepts require understandable words; or they can arise spontaneously, as in street slang, where they may serve some sociological purpose. But words created artificially for no other purpose than to set the initiated apart from the uninitiated are, in my opinion, just plain silly. The discoverers of elements or the inventors of gadgets need to invent names for them. But when a perfectly adequate term exists (in this case, "Prius owner") I see no need to invent new words, which are unnecessary, and which virtually nobody will understand. Even most Prius owners will not understand your new word, because most do not spend their time hanging around on the internet. There are concepts related to the Prius that need terms, and those terms have been invented: "stealth" or my prefered "golf cart" mode to describe what happens when the ICE shuts off and the car runs on electric power alone; "feathering" the pedal, for that particular way of coaxing the car into golf-cart mode; "EV mode" to describe the unique mode of operation invoked by grounding pin 27, as distinct from the above; and the trade-mark terms HSD and PSD, to describe components never before used in a car, to name just a few. But where adequate words already exist, I say let's use them, and not play games by inventing words that serve no other purpose than to set ourselves apart. I think the Prius is the coolest car in the universe, but who I am as a person has virtually nothing to do with the fact that I own a Prius. I don't want to be slapped with a label based on the car I own. The Prius is a "cult" car to the extent that it has a devoted following. We don't need to cheapen it or ourselves by intentionally trying to make it more of a cult than its own farseeing technology has already made it.
