A Rose By Any Other Name
So… here’s the thing: Auxeos is not a word. I got the root word for auxetic materials all wrong. (Going to go crawl under a rock now and then die there from embarrassment. Yes indeedy, I will.)
Now, on the one hand, one could argue that cosmetic companies make up words all the time, especially absurd quasi-French/quasi-English ones. On the other hand, auxeos is not a word.
It basically boils down to this: Laurent’s fragrance for me needs a new name. It’s something I’ve been mulling over for a little while now. I’d sounded out my husband Jon for some ideas, which gleaned nothing. To wit –
“Honey, what would you name a perfume?”
“Hm… I think I’d name it Steve.”
“?”
“C’mon! I bet there’s not any other Steves out there on the market.”
“Uh, no.”
“Okay, fine. How ’bout Craig?”
So then I was thinking, oh I know, I’ll name it “A Million Bucks.” And that way, when someone says to you, “Omigod, you smell like a million bucks!” you could be all, “Dude! I KNOW!” But that’s no good. Especially for my Canadian friends, who just won’t smell as quite as nice, what with the exchange rate and all. (Hacky currency joke! Apologies!)
Funnily enough, Nobi floats the name “Slinky” in the comments for his last post. Which… yeah. I like that. What do you all think? Does “Slinky” work?
Got your own ideas? What would YOU name a fragrance? And what might you name this particular fragrance?
(Please note, per conversations with Jon, that “Yoda,” “Stan,” and “Peggy” have already been rejected. As was his suggestion of “Jon,” because no one wants to hear they smell like the john.)
21 Comments
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treazurekitten
Well, I should have consulted my husband before my previous comment. He’s like Mikey (he hates everything), but he’s very smart. And he loves the name Slinky, especially for a perfume. Huh. I usually can’t get anything out of him and he launched into quite an impassioned explanation for his belief in the superiority of that name. Now DH is just an average man, one who semi- detests perfume (except when he catches that small spot on the back of my neck…)but anyway, that’s a big yes. Yes. Yes to Slinky!
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Gary
auxesis is a word as is auxetic and they are seldom seen , very good looking words.
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Marina
I am heartbroken. I love “auxeous”. Slinky? It’s a little childish, and your perfume is anything but. We need something deep, leaden with meaning..like Auxeous was…
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Katie
Treasuzuekitten – Oh sheesh, I didn’t even think of that. Stinky, slinky. Oh my. It struck out at me right away, since it’s the first suggestion for a new one that made me smile. So funny about your husband! Interesting. I kind of wonder sometimes with men how they react to the name alone when buying fragrance. That is good to know, thanks; I still haven’t run Slinky past my own husband, since he was out of town for work for most of yesterday. I’m still gonna be embarrassed about my glitch, though… The shame! It burns! Heh.
Gary – I’ve been mulling over “auxesis,” too. It doesn’t sound as purty to me as my inadvertently made-up word when I roll it across my tongue, but I still like the concept. You’re right though, of course. Neither of those words are seen much outside of science journals and magazines by most people. Hmmmmm…. Auxesis. I still gotta puzzle this one out.
Marina – Well, now I’m feeling wishy-washy. It’s too childish? GAH! Well, I thought it was a little, but then I also thought of “slinky black dress,” too, when Nobi suggested it. But… oh crap, I suppose you’re right. I will still have to think on it.
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Sacre Nobi
Katie, I hope I didn’t make a mistake by saying “your new fragrance” – new versus present, that is what I wanted to say in my previous comment. You should choose the name you like most, but I’m curious to know what Laurent thinks. Shall we ask him what he thinks?
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Katie
Oh! No, okay… I *think* I see. The present one IS new as I see it ๐ It’s all new to me, heh!
Good lord, yes, we should totally ask Laurent. I don’t know how often the perfumers get asked about such things, but you know, it’d be nice to have his input, since it’s his creativity and knowledge that’s fueling the whole thing. I’d love to have him sound out what he think would be a fitting name. Shoot, now I’m dying of curiosity: DO perfumers get asked very often when companies are devising names? Intuitively it seems like they should be, but you never know…
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sariah
Hey Katie – I think it’s OK that Auxeous isn’t a word, because it’s a name, and names don’t have to come from something else, right? Plus maybe it sounds cool – how do you pronouce it? (I’m thinking O-she-us?) Sorry, my first thought about Slinky was Stinky – just saying. Well I’m not much help here to help you find a new name. My personal favorite names are the old Piguet’s – Bandit and Fracas, and ones that are named after places like Dzongkha (sp?), Shalimar, the CdG incense series like Zagorsk, Kyoto, etc.
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Laurent
Katie,
I’m sorry but I do not like “Slinky” since it makes me think of the word ‘stinky’, and I think your perfume is very far from that. I like Auxeos. It sounds mystic, refined and qualitatif. And because of the raw materials we are using in the fragrance I think Auxeos is a very good match for your perfume, and it is a name for something special – your masterpiece !!!!
But, after all it is your fragrance, so you can do what you want to …
Laurent. -
kuri
Even if Auxeos is not a word, it seems like a good name for the fragrance. I like Auxesis also though ๐
Slinky lacks any similar depth for me; slinky is sexy, carefree, and ignorant of consequences. But there’s no incense in slinky. No smoke or fire.
Good luck picking something!
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kuri
Haha, there’s no incense in Auxeos either, is there? It’s smoke, yes smoke. Sorry, it’s late ๐
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Katie
Sariah – My best guess, which is, let’s face it, fairly suspect given it’s imaginary existence, would be as follows: Awk, as in “awkward;” ze as in “zebra;” ah as in “pasta;” and then the “s” sound. Although, I have to admit, I keep “mispronouncing” my own word, too. I keep saying it with a “ze” as if it were Spanish (“zay”) because I have a nasty habit of turning every language that’s not English into Spanish. (You should hear me try on German words for size! Oh, the destruction!) I love the old Piguets, too, both in name and smell. They stick to the brain like super glue, even if you don’t even like those fragrances. I’m not sure I could ever name this after a place, though. It doesn’t remind me of anywhere in particular, just an imaginary place that exists only in my head. So maybe Auxeos is okay after all – an imaginary name for an imaginary place, heh.
Laurent, oh no, not you, too! Well… damn. If the native French speaker thinks “stinky” as well, then it is a doomed idea for sure. “Slinky” is doomed to a painful rhyming death, obviously. It is “my” fragrance, but it seems sort of silly to me at this point to consider it so in anything but shorthand language. I’m not doing any work whatsoever! It’s all on you ๐
Kuri> – well, “ignorant of consequences” does actully cover me, though not the fragrance. (“Leap first” I’m afraid is the only way I ever get anything at all done, and thus, I’m a shoot first, ask questions later kind of cowgirl.) You’re right, though: no incense, smoke, fire, etc. in slinky. I give! I give! Uncle! There isn’t really in Auxeos, but the root part of my phony word “aux” is derrived from “aug,” which means to grow or growing. And, that, really is to me what incense is about (actual incense, not merely the perfumery notes.)
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March
First off, I agree w/Laurent about Stinky. And with you about Stan and Craig. I have poked around here, and … who says auxeous is not a word? I mean, I’m googling up the ol’ prefix/suffix dictionaries, as well as some Greek resources, and here’s what I get:
http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/263/2/?spage=15&letter=A
Hope that doesn’t trigger your spam filter — it’s growth, right? Also I found:
auxano- combining form 7ISV, fr. Gk auxanein to increase@ akin
to Gk auxein to increase8 : growth 9auxanogram: 9auxanology
:
-auxe n combining form, pl -auxae 7NL, fr. Gk aux growth@
akin to Gk auxein to increase8 : enlargement : hypertrophy
9enterauxe:
auxo- combining form 7ISV, fr. Gk, fr. auxein to increase8 _1
: growth 9auxobody: 9auxosubstance: : increase 9auxograph
: _2 : accelerating : stimulating 9auxochrome:from the prefix/suffix section of spelling bee — and “ous” is “possessing the qualities of” — so EVEN if nobody’s put these together before (are you sure?) I can’t see why you can’t. My vote, pending additional info demonstrating that I’m an idiot: stick with Auxeos.
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March
PS, Okay, maybe you need to insert that “u” in “ous” for Auxeos, but still. You see my point here ๐
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rodelinda
I’d stick with your original plan – a one-of-a-kind name for a one-of-a-kind perfume!
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kuri
Sorry, didn’t mean to beat you over the head! Was just putting in my 2 scents, haha. And erm, there is incense, isn’t there? >_
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StickyKeys
Wha-wha-WHAT?!
Katie you are a trailblazer! If Auxeous is not a word then I expect to see it in the Webster dictionary as an original creation. It’s lovely and though I can only pronounce it in my mind, I feel that it should be given more of a chance.
Tell me it’s not so!
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Katie
Oh wow, March, that’s some research right there. Vote noted, and reseach has been taken under advisement ๐ Maybe I’ll just drop the “U.” Eh, why not? It’d be very American English, since we’ve dropped the extraneous “u” from other words like “honour,” “neighbour,” etc.
Rodelinda – thanks for the vote of confidence in the name ๐
kuri – no, no, it’s not you! It’s a virtual monkey pile against a change, so no worries.
Sticky – No, I give in already! No change, the monkey pile is against it! Plus, the only thing that I did like was Slinky, and that’s just right out of the question now!
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StickyKeys
Just got the new mods and am sooo excited for the review!
Initial reactions.
P (on left wrist): INTENSE! Keeps that lovely bbq/smoky/burnt smell without being fickle about it. It doesn’t linger it stands and would be perfect for evenings.
O (on right wrist): Soapy, but in a really great way. Either good to wear during the day, or a great summer scent. I don’t know, it’s very clean.
N (on bosom.. sorry, I need more wrists!): Perfection for me. Light, sweet, almost sugary and airy. This would be my everyday option, and the others would be dependent on my mood. Now that’s just for me, because for you I see P as more of an option.
Can’t wait to see what you think and to wear these more, EEEEE!
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Sali
I’m sorry my comments for Katie’s Auxeos come so late. I think both 0 and P are fabulous, very reminiscent to me of Chanel 31 Rue Cambon but unique, with their own character. These are so clean and sophisticated, with just the right amount of classic charm. As for the name, I love Auxeos because it sounds spacey, very prog. I wouldn’t mind just Aux for a name, either.
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chiz
Good post. You make some great points that most people do not fully understand.
“So then I was thinking, oh I know, Iโll name it โA Million Bucks.โ And that way, when someone says to you, โOmigod, you smell like a million bucks!โ you could be all, โDude! I KNOW!โ But thatโs no good. Especially for my Canadian friends, who just wonโt smell as quite as nice, what with the exchange rate and all. (Hacky currency joke! Apologies!)”
I like how you explained that. Very helpful. Thanks.
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treazurekitten
A name change, eh? Auxeous. Slinky. Well, you must not to be embarrassed at all for the first one; you were bold enough to dream up your own new word! Which is cool. But the name is yours to choose, and the scent is going to be dead-on genius so the matter deserves very serious thought, indeed. Slinky. Sliinnnnkeeyyy. The sound of this word, the way it stretches as it slides off the tongue. That’s very clever. Also, this name is a bit unexpected. Original. And yes, it’s fun; hypnotic, like the purring, rhythmic motion of the toy. I just wish it didn’t rhyme with, well, stinky.