Using -ise for words like ‘maximise’ and ‘organise’ is a relatively new phenomenon in Britain, probably because maximize with a z looks too American to British eyes. In fact, the -ize form originated in Britain and is the preferred international form.
The insurance company Aviva Life Insurance (recently started in India) has a name that has made me cringe every time I see its advertisements. A- is a standard prefix for without, and viva is a form of the latin vivere, meaning “(to) live”. Viva also connotes vitality in common English usage. Taken together, Aviva sounds like it means “without living” and by association, “without vitality” and “without life”. Just the sort of cheery notion a life insurance company should be spreading.
Aviva (their old name was CGNU Plc) actually has a webpage saying that their new name resonated positively “among 15,000 customers in 15 countries, being associated with life, vitality and living well.” I wonder which 15 countries they polled, and, more importantly, who their brand manager was.
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An aside: why do the content mills (I like that phrase) like the word ‘consumer’ so much? Has the image of couch potatoes slumping before television made them used to the passive ‘consumer’? A customer by contrast is an active participant in a sale. He haggles, dissects, cribs, drives you wild. I think the content mills have forgotten how to deal with a creature like that, with their increasing dependance on statistical models of ‘consumer’ behavior.
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