September 2, 2008 · 8:58 am
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Tip #19: Jinx

Timacheff’s Law of Reciprocal Naming:

If you name your product “Perfect,” “Fast,” or “Easy,” it will be the opposite.

4 Comments

Filed under Bad ideas

4 responses to “Tip #19: Jinx”

  1. P. K.
    September 5, 2008 at 9:23 am

    Examples:

    * FastCompany (an out-of-touch publication)
    * FastCompany.tv
    * ThinkFree (not free)

    Reply
  2. Adam Zand
    September 23, 2008 at 10:05 am

    Three for three:

    Word Perfect wasn’t

    Fast Company was a slow, enjoyable read

    Easy Bake oven was a mess

    Reply
  3. Prescott Shibles
    October 4, 2008 at 7:20 am

    We have a similar axiom in the b2b magazine business. Naming a magazine “profitable” anything ensures that the magazine won’t be. (see Profitable Embroiderer)

    Reply
  4. Private Beach
    March 20, 2009 at 2:13 am

    WordPerfect may not have been perfect, but it was (and still is in some respects) a better piece of software than Word.

    You could add “Professional” to the list of jinx words.

    Reply

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