What does "Prius" mean?

It's latin for "to go before".

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SomervillePrius @ Feb 1 2007, 09:32 AM) [snapback]383855[/snapback]</div>

But at this point, 13 years after the first use of the name "Prius" by Toyota, there is a disconnect from the latin origin.

Now "Prius" means: the car that brought about the age of hybrids; the first to become mainstream.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Feb 1 2007, 01:44 PM) [snapback]383997[/snapback]</div>

Ha! I'm sure many prius engineers could relate to that statement!
I've always wondered how the Latin word 'prius' would be used. It makes more sense seeing it an a sentence.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SomervillePrius @ Feb 1 2007, 11:32 PM) [snapback]383855[/snapback]</div>

The word "prius" is not a Latin verb form. Latin infinitives usually end in "ere" , "are" or "ire", as in "entrare", meaning, "to enter". As a word, "Prius" is in the form of a masculine singular noun, or adjective, which could mean "he who goes before" (noun) or "prior" (adjective). Then again, Japanese writers are often unconcerned about Western syntax and Western writers are even more ignorant about Japanese literary conventions.

Bob

 

Dang. I always thought it was Japanese for "smug."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lenjack @ Feb 1 2007, 10:30 AM) [snapback]383853[/snapback]</div>

On January 20, 2007, I heard a presentation by Tomio Yamazaki at the Orange County Prius Club meeting. Mr. Yamazaki was the Chief Designer of Prius II & currently CFO of Calty Design Research, Inc. It was a great presentation during which he told us that PRIUS stood for:
P - "Presence"
R - "Radical"
I - "Ideal"
U - "Unity"
S - "Sophisticated"

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jmccord @ Feb 2 2007, 12:13 AM) [snapback]384260[/snapback]</div>

This is off topic a little but this brought to mind how engineers sometime arrive at acronyms. An engineer at Magnavox developed a TV tuning system back in the 70s which was the first time one could press numbers on a remote control and tune a TV channel. He called it "Random Access Tuning System", which we referred to as "RATS". When marketing finally figured out that it was a fantastic advancement, and should be developed. we decided that the accronym should be reversed to "STAR" for "Selective Tuning At Random".
Just a little TV history.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jmccord @ Feb 1 2007, 08:13 PM) [snapback]384260[/snapback]</div>

Petroleum
Reduction
Is
Unusually
Satisfying !

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rehillini @ Feb 2 2007, 03:23 AM) [snapback]384707[/snapback]</div>

That's what marketing is all about, turning RATS into STARs Thanks for the annecdote and welcome to PriusChat!

 

You would not believe the amount of time we (in the military) sit around coming up with names of stuff. A Tactical Exercise Without Troops (TEWT pronounced toot) sounds better than a Practical Exercise Not Including Soldiers (I will let you figure out that acronym)