Why Strato's?

[DJ]

This has been bugging me since I saw those Strato's on display in Torino's Piazza San Carlo in September. I noticed for the first time that the correct name of the model is "Strato's" with an apostrophe, NOT "Stratos" as I've always thought. ???

Does anyone know the story on this?

[A1.6HPE]

I believe the story is stereotypical Italian chaos. Bertone used the apostrophe on the prototype and the production team kept it in.
Some say that the mark is on the prototype to help with the style of the logo on the car. Others say that Bertone wanted to use the word Stratosphere but thought it was too long so shortened it and confused the Engliish punctuation of abbreviation (.) with possessive (').
Whatever, there is no logical reason for it.

Leo

[Shant Fabricatorian]

Others say that Bertone wanted to use the word Stratosphere but thought it was too long so shortened it and confused the Engliish punctuation of abbreviation (.) with possessive (').
Whatever, there is no logical reason for it.


Another version is a slight variation on this - with Stratos having an 's' on the end, the Italian scriptwriter got confused - possibly thinking it needed a plural apostrophe? Regardless, as Leo says, there is no reason for it, apart from something being lost in translation.

[SubGothius]

If I am not mistaken, that mark is not intended as an apostrophe/single-quote at all, altho' granted it certainly looks that way in the stylized logotype -- it's actually an accent grave (`) over the "o", which in Italian denotes that as the stressed vowel. Sometimes, where diacriticals and backspace-overstrikes are not possible, this is indicated by a single quote afterwards (tho' this is considered informal and inelegant), which would explain its presence in typewritten documentation. Apparently then,, we've been spelling it correctly (as much as the accent-free English alphabet will allow), but pronouncing it with the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble -- the accent grave indicates pronunciation as "stra-TOHS".

(BTW, English does use apostrophes for contracted abbreviations, where it replaces a string of one or more omitted letters, as in gov't, dep't, etc. -- altho' this pro'ly has nothin' to do with the Stratos ;) )

[Andrew S]

Hmmm, a "plural apostrophe". What is that?

[Shant Fabricatorian]

Hmmm, a "plural apostrophe". What is that?


Sorry - that's my tortuous way of describing a plural possessive apostrophe, where the word ends with an 's', e.g. Mr Jones' car. Lots of native English-speakers still get confused with that usage, I figure it's not beyond the realms of possibility that having an 's' on the end fooled the person responsible into thinking it needed one?

Although Tye's theory is plausible - can you recall where you heard that?

[SubGothius]

Not sure if I heard/read it somewhere, or if I just realized it on my own after noticing that mark in the stylized logotype and thinking, "Well, that can't be an apostrophe, so what is it there for?"

As for general principle, here's Wikipedia on the accent grave as a vowel-stress indicator in Italian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accent_grave#Stress). ;)

[mogul_x]

The apostrophe is there to indicate a genitive case or possessive. The following is a quote from correspondence between one of the members of the Stratos Enthusiast's Club, and an employee of Bertone:

"Thanks for your request on STRATOS. The original name placed by Bertone designers on the first prototype (1971) was STRATO'S (saxon genitive). So it was lately labelled on production cars. In communication (') is just don't readable!! Consequently, everybody let it down. Kindest regards G.B. PANICCO - Bertone."

So, using the English definition of an apostrophe, "Strato's" means "of or belonging to Strato" - where, presumably, "strato" is being used in it's definition as an abbreviated form of "stratosphere". By extension "of or belonging to the Stratosphere" would be the literal meaning of the car's name. I think this was also mentioned in the book by Nigel Trow, but I'm not sure.

[Will]

And now we all know the precise etymology of the Strato's' moniker. Now who can decipher FIAT's cryptic parts numbering nomenclature?? :)

[DJ]

The apostrophe is there to indicate a genitive case or possessive.

Thanks, Scott.

I think it bugged me mostly because I never noticed it until I was checking out the prototype in Torino.