Rose Mary’s stretch too far
QUESTION What is meant by a ‘Rose Mary Stretch’ in America?
THE WATERGATE scandal was a political controversy in the United States during the 1970s.
It involved the Nixon administration’s attempt to cover up its involvement in the burglary of the Democratic National Committee HQ at the Watergate complex in Washington, DC.
One of its enduring mysteries was just what was said during a suspicious 18-minute gap on the Watergate tape, a 79-minute conversation between US president Richard Nixon and his chief of staff, H. R. ‘Bob’ Haldeman.
Under cross-examination in a federal court, Nixon’s personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods (1917-2005), tried to explain this. She said that while she’d been transcribing and typing the conversations of June 20, 1972, the phone rang. As she stretched to answer it, she said, she accidentally pressed the wrong pedal on her foot-controlled Uher 5000 tape recorder, resulting in the accidental erasure.
Judge John Sirica asked her to reenact the procedure. Woods physically demonstrated how she leaned back and stretched to reach the phone with her hand while her foot was on the pedal. It was a highly contorted and unconvincing performance that would come to be known as the ‘Rose Mary Stretch’, one that ‘stretched’ the credulity of the court. The cover-up eventually led to the resignation of President Nixon in 1974.
QUESTION George Eastman called his company Kodak because he liked the letter ‘K’. Do any other major companies have ‘meaningless’ names?
THE EPITOME of this must be Häagen-Dazs. The name was coined by the American ice cream entrepreneurs Reuben and Rose Mattus, because they wanted something that sounded ‘Danish’. They felt Denmark was known for its dairy products.
In the 1900s, Standard Oil of New Jersey started marketing its products under the brand name ‘Esso’, which is the phonetic pronunciation of the initials ‘S’ and ‘O’ in Standard Oil. In the US, they were forced to change their company name in the 1970s over a trademark dispute and brought their business under a new contrived name, Exxon.
Many company names are ultimately meaningless but make a semblance of sense. Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo was easily understood in Japan as Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, but its name did not translate into global markets. As its business abroad developed during the 1950s, Sony was developed as its global trademark as it suggested the Latin word ‘sonus’, meaning sound.
When Andersen Consulting separated from Arthur Andersen in 2000, the name Accenture was adopted, derived from ‘Accent on the future’. The name was submitted by Kim Petersen, a Danish employee from the company’s Oslo office.
Keith Steele, Reigate, Surrey.
QUESTION What was the infamous ‘double diffuser’ which propelled Brawn GP to the 2009 F1 World Championship?
THE BRAWN double diffuser was a design innovation featured on the Brawn GP BGP001 Formula 1 car during the 2009 F1 season.
It was significant in contributing to Jenson Button’s success that year. The double diffuser was a part of the car’s rear aerodynamics. The diffuser is a section of the car’s underbody that accelerates airflow, creating downforce, which improves grip and stability through corners.
The double diffuser concept exploited a loophole in the regulations that allowed teams to have an additional diffuser channel by creating a split-level design. This design effectively increased the volume of air that could pass through the diffuser, enhancing its performance by adding a downforce boost.
Brawn GP was not the only team to start the season with a double diffuser. It was Honda’s withdrawal from F1 that led to the creation of Brawn GP. During the upheaval that ensued, several of its engineers joined rival teams Toyota and Williams; all began with a double diffuser.
What set Brawn GP apart was just how well the diffuser functioned alongside other aerodynamic components. Its effectiveness sparked complaints from rival teams, some of whom argued that it provided an unfair advantage. However, the design was deemed legal by the FIA.
Button went on to win six of the first seven Grands Prix. By the time the other teams had developed their own versions, Brawn GP had already gained an unassailable lead.
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