ellestra ([info]ellestra) wrote,
2009-03-16 19:50:00

Syfy

I've just learned that Sci Fi Channel is changing it's name to Syfy. Someone didn't do their homework as in Polish syfy is plural of syf which means mess, crap, filth, shit, junk or pimple. It is short from of syfilis (syphilis) so it also means a venereal disease. In other words it's a swear word with very bad connotations. Most international brands check for something like that before choosing names. Considering there's Sci Fi Channel Polska now I wonder if they'll change name in Poland too. That be funny. Syfy is pronounced differently in Polish (syhfyh/ siffy) but that doesn't help when it's written on your screen.

Or maybe they wanted to admit something.
Then congratulations on renaming yourself Crap Channel.

On other scary news here's cover to the And Another Thing... a part Six of Three of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. The cover is cool and I like the title but I can't shake the feeling of wrongness. It's not Douglass Adams' name on that cover. All my previous thoughts on this are still valid.

Too much excitement? To feel better and quiet the mind - galaxy porn (it's in Polish so just click the arrow on the blue rectangle above photos to see next one)
Tags: astronomy, books, links, polish, sci-fi channel, sf, space, syfy

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  • 16 comments

[info]robling_t

March 17 2009, 12:39:56 UTC 3 years ago

I... can't decide if this is an extension of the mindset that thought it was a good idea to greenlight "Mansquito", or some sort of grand gesture of self-immolation now that BSG's ending has left them without any anchor stores in their hollowed-out metaphorical mall...

[info]ellestra

March 17 2009, 18:07:24 UTC 3 years ago

I blame the marketing people from NBC Universal. They made the effort to buy out SyFy Portal. They made polls. But they didn't think to check different languages despite having "upwards of 50 Sci Fi Channels in various territories". Fiat checked over 180 languages before deciding for a name for car models and they only last couple of years. In the WORLD wide web times such mistakes cannot stay hidden. And besides, from what I've seen on the web, many English speaking people also have made the connection with syphilis anyway.

And all this is because "you cannot trademark 'Sci Fi' anywhere in the world"
FAIL

[info]fawkesielady_ed

March 17 2009, 22:05:41 UTC 3 years ago

OMG! That is too funny! The Crap Channel! There you go! That's what I'm calling it from here out!

sgu has been greelit by the crap channel. LOL!

that fits since Atlantis was Scifi and the channel was called Scifi short for science fiction. And sgu is crap and on the crap channel!

Amen! thanks for posting this!

[info]ellestra

March 18 2009, 16:26:45 UTC 3 years ago

You're welcome :)

Remember it also means mess. Very appropriate. Every way.

[info]noelia_g

March 18 2009, 09:47:02 UTC 3 years ago

Considering that Polish SciFi shows the newest Flash Gordon and the latter seasons of Charmed, I think this would just be an example of honest advertising...

(Would you mind terribly if I friended you? I've skimmed through your 'polish' tag out of curiosity, and I'd love to follow your lj :))

[info]ellestra

March 18 2009, 16:32:07 UTC 3 years ago

I can't wait for the Syfy written on our TV screens. Content warning :P

Luckily all the good Sci Fi Channel shows are on other channels.

Would you mind terribly if I friended you?
Go on. I'm glad you found something interesting here :)

[info]noelia_g

March 18 2009, 18:37:56 UTC 3 years ago

Content warnings are actually the best thing on Polish Sci Fi Channel. 'Odcinek Anioła Ciemności zawiera sceny okultyzmu, przedstawione wyłącznie w celach widowiskowych'. :D

There is some good stuff on the channel, Firefly, or Hogfather, but mostly... not so much :D.

[info]ellestra

March 18 2009, 19:10:42 UTC 3 years ago

There is some good stuff on the channel, Firefly, or Hogfather
But it all has been repeated thousand times already.

I prefer watching AXN and AXN Sci-Fi. They have more shows and more interesting shows. It's ironic that most of original Sci Fi Channel series are not shown by Sci Fi Channel in Poland but by AXN (mostly).

[info]diarmi

March 19 2009, 09:35:34 UTC 3 years ago

Według ostatnich wieści w Polsce zostawią Sci-Fi:)))

[info]ellestra

March 19 2009, 16:57:54 UTC 3 years ago

A już myślałam, że nie tylko żarówki Osram ale też kanał Syfy. Żeby było kogo winić za słownictwo dzieci :P

[info]slawson01

March 22 2009, 11:32:01 UTC 3 years ago

There's a good portion of sci-fi channel viewers who might embrace the syphilis angle. It's proof that they have had sex at least once.

[info]ellestra

March 22 2009, 20:39:07 UTC 3 years ago

LOL

This name so bad - the jokes just write themselves. After all when your name can mean crap or mess you're just asking for it. When it also means STD it's gets even better.
Only good thing - a lot of people learning new Polish word :P

[info]psychoadept

March 23 2009, 03:46:55 UTC 3 years ago

Although typical that people learn the "bad" words in another language first, eh? *laugh*

[info]ellestra

March 23 2009, 06:19:14 UTC 3 years ago

It is unavoidable but apparently it works pretty well :P

Anonymous

September 13 2011, 23:10:58 UTC 8 months ago

Meaning of Syfy

I know this is an old post. But this never gets old.. anyway:
In some other language (i think its Chinese) syfy also means "ass juice". Kinda resembles "shit" in Polish doesn't it? ;)

[info]ellestra

September 14 2011, 13:25:13 UTC 8 months ago

Re: Meaning of Syfy

In Polish it's 'shit' in the figurative meaning - like saying 'what a piece of shit' about a device that doesn't work. But this is just another proof how stupid the name change was (along with people calling it the syphilis channel whenever they don't like something). However it seems like we are stuck with it.

In my own rotest I never pronounce the name as scifi, not even when I'm speaking English.
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