Sean: 換喩

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Posted by Sean:
換喩
http://whiteperil.com/posts/1169008940.shtml


   According to the [1]Mitsubish Fuso website, the company name has
   charming origins:

     When the B46 autobus was created, the company held an internal
     search for a nickname, and the name that was selected was Fuso.
     Fuso (æ¶æ¡: "caretaking" + "mulberry") is a Chinese word of ancient
     origin that refers to "sacred trees that grow in the Land of the
     Rising Sun on the East Sea" and was used as a variant name for
     Japan. The actual fuso trees are called "bussoge" and are more
     generally known as "[Chinese] hibiscus."

   The site doesn't mention that, while mitsubishi (ä¸è±) is commonly
   understood to mean "three diamonds" the hishi literally means "water
   chestnut," so there's kind of a mixed plant metaphor thing going on
   there. I suppose that might be considered an additional part of the
   charm.
   Not so charming, unfortunately, is the company's endless string of
   problems with defective trucks. The [2]latest problem is with wheel
   hubs that were introduced in response to previous defects:

     Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. has announced it will recall tens
     of thousands of its large trucks because of concerns over a
     potential defect in the wheel hub, company sources said Tuesday.
     The wheel hub in question is a new type introduced following a
     large-scale recall in 2004. However, fractures and cracks in the
     hubs have been discovered in a number of cases since October.
     Until now, the company has maintained to the Construction and
     Transport Ministry that the problem would not occur under normal
     conditions and that it was the result of a maintenance error.
     However, the sources said the company now believes the new hub is
     simply too weak.

   Five years ago, a woman driving with her two children in Yokohama was
   killed when a wheel detached from a passing truck. The accident was
   highly publicized because it's the kind of thing that's not supposed
   to happen in Japan, with its vaunted transportation systems and
   technology. Note that Mitsubishi Motors, M. Fuso's erstwhile parent
   corporation, has had completely unrelated problems of its own with,
   among other things, the clutches in its cars.

References

   1. http://www.mitsubishi-fuso.com/jp/corporate/history/index.html
   2. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070117TDY01002.htm