QUAG as acronym. A good choice? Or a ridiculous metaphor?

[kurt19xx]

CONTEXT
I'm Italian and I'm (still) trying to find a name for a cultural online community. I'm now considering the acronym QUAG, actually a fusion of the words QUERYING + TAGGING, which are the main actions that users may perform online.

QUESTION
I like the phonetics of the word "quag" because it sounds simple, memorable, and somehow funny to me. But I wonder if a brand/domain QUAG.COM may sound ridiculous or negative to native english . In other words, I wonder if a native english may abstract from the litteral sense of "quag", which means "mire", not a positive metaphor I presume.

If not, would QUAGG or QUAGGA have the same problem?


Thanks

 

[emsr2d2]

The words "QUAG" and "QUAGGA" don't sound negative or positive. They mean nothing. I would not guess that it's a combination of "question" and "tagging" though. A better combination of those two would be "Q-TAG" (with or without the hyphen). We refer to questions by using the letter "Q" on its own in phrases like "Q&A" (Question and Answer).

 

[kurt19xx]

The words "QUAG" and "QUAGGA" don't sound negative or positive. They mean nothing. I would not guess that it's a combination of "question" and "tagging" though. A better combination of those two would be "Q-TAG" (with or without the hyphen). We refer to questions by using the letter "Q" on its own in phrases like "Q&A" (Question and Answer).

Do you mean that the definition I found on several dictionaries, e.g. http ://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quag, has no sense for common people?

Thanks for your suggestion about qtag. Don't you think that Quag may have a simpler and more memorable phonetics? I agree with you about the fact it has a poor semantics.

 

[5jj]

Do you mean that the definition I found on several dictionaries, e.g. http ://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quag, has no sense for common people?

I doubt if the word means anything to many people. To those who do know it, there will probably be negative ideas.

 

[emsr2d2]

Apologies for not noticing that in your first post you had given the definition you had found. I had never heard of the word. I agree with 5jj that "mire" does not give a positive opinion. If people know the meaning of the word, they may feel that they are going to get bogged down in your site.

(Note: the link you provided in your last post was incomplete even though it appeared to be complete. It took me to the listing for the word "qua" instead.) Here is a link: Quag - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

QUAG as a website title might be more memorable than QTAG, though QTAG has the same format as, for example eBay, iTunes etc (ie a single letter followed by a short word).

In the end, what to call your website is entirely up to you. If it's a great website, people will remember the name. If it's not, it'll be forgotten no matter what you call it.

 

[kurt19xx]

Thanks emsr2d2 and 5jj,

your suggestions are precious. let me say it: I love this forum.

 

[Tdol]

Quag sounds better to me than quagga. How about kwag?

 

[SoothingDave]

Do you mean that the definition I found on several dictionaries, e.g. http ://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quag, has no sense for common people?

Thanks for your suggestion about qtag. Don't you think that Quag may have a simpler and more memorable phonetics? I agree with you about the fact it has a poor semantics.

I did not know that "quag" was a word, apart from its use in "quagmire."

I don't think that native English speakers would automatically assume "quagmire" when hearing "QUAG."

 

[konungursvia]

I agree that Q-tag sounds better than quag or quagga. The last 2 are actually Pretty Bad Ideas.

 

[BobK]

I did not know that "quag" was a word, apart from its use in "quagmire."

I don't think that native English speakers would automatically assume "quagmire" when hearing "QUAG."

Yes, it's a 'fossil' - in the sense that its use in 'quagmire' points to the fact that at one time it was in current use. Now it's known chiefly by people who do crosswords and play Scrabble!

Some people may be interested to know that QUAGGA too is a word.

b

 

[Tdol]

Some people may be interested to know that QUAGGA too is a word.

You live and learn. Well, I do.