Audi, to the best of my knowledge, produces a fine range of cars, but the skill of the company's engineers is not matched by the skill of the copywriters in its advertising agency.
In its current TV ad campaign much is made of the technology that diverts otherwise wasted braking energy into charging the vehicle's battery. Capturing braking energy is not a new idea; some years ago, when still an inhabitant of JD's Engine Room, I was subbing technical reports of similar technology (regular Engine Room correspondent Clutchslip knows much more about it than I do).
It was described as a regenerative system, which my ageing OED Concise defines as "...breathe new and more vigorous life into". But in their search for an alternative word Audi's men in red braces have come up with recuperative, which the OED defines as "...recover from exhaustion, illness, loss etc". I wonder how much they were paid for describing their clients' products as exhausted and ailing?
4 comments:
I'll bet they were thinking of "recoup", not that that's all that much better than "recuperate"...
Interesting thought, Ridger. Recoup would certainly be a better word; you should apply for a job with Audi!
My OED gives "regain (something lost)" as the primary meaning of 'recoup' and the secondary meaning of 'recuperate'. So there's obviously a lot of overlap.
And Googling 'recouperate' (note spelling) throws up 12,000 results...
What I would do to own one of these babies Oh My Goodness! Just look at the thing! Okay okay not Everyone might think so, but I'll take that over what I have any day! :) Point is, I wish I had the car (haha). Just imagine cruising around with one of these in the city streets at night with the city lights just gleaming off the fresh new coat of wax that you passionately rubbed into the car. I think my passion for cars has gotten way out of hand! My friend actually owns one of these, stock of course, and he told me the ride was simply, Luxurious
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