(above, Fiat Cinquecento/500)
The United Kingdom has given us Big Ben, Big Brother, Enery the Eighth, Herman's Hermits, Mannfred Mann, King Crimson, Merry Men, Peter Pan, Peter Piper's Pickled Peppers, MG Midget, and the Vauxhall Victor.
The Spanish are responsible for con carne.
From France, we get cherchez la femme, Brigitte Bardot, and the Franco-American Michelin Man.
Sweden was the source of the Saab Sonnett.
Sweden was the source of the Saab Sonnett.
Germany was the location of Checkpoint Charlie (but it was named by English-speakers), and made the Volkswagen Vanagon.
But Italian--the most musical of languages--is il campione del mondo (the champion of the world) in alliteration.
My three favorites:
Mille Miglia (pronounced mee-luh meel-yuh) means "Thousand Miles," an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy from 1927 to 1957, with time out for Word War Two.
Cinecitta (pronounced cheena-cheeta) means "Cinema City," a huge movie studio in Rome founded by Mussolini in 1937 and used by Federico Fellini for La Dolce Vita and Satyricon. The studio was also used for "American" films including Gangs of New York.
Cinquecento (pronounced cheenkwuh-chento) means "500"--Fiat's popular minicar, first made in 1936, and due in the USA in late 2010.
Marilyn Monroe, mamma mia!
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