4

Some studio names have the word studio in the front and some in the back. I wonder if there is a substantial difference in the meanings?

For example, do 'Zen Studio' and 'Studio Zen' have different meanings or give a native speaker different impressions?

Improve this question
3
  • 1
    The folks who pay marketing firms large sums of money to pick names like to think they give different impressions.
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Dec 6, 2015 at 21:46
  • This is a marketing tactic, taking advantage of the difference between English and Inflected languages to make plain things sound more European.
    – lurker
    Dec 7, 2015 at 2:34
  • Good question. I think the word order depends on what we 'have' as a proper noun. In hotels, I see Hotel X; in studios, I see X Studio; in cafe, I see both - X Cafe and Cafe X; in Universities, I see University of X more common.
    – Maulik V
    Dec 7, 2015 at 5:32

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

I'd argue that there's no difference, from the point of view of the people hearing the company names. The people who name the company/studio may have a reason for opting for one ordering over the other but, realistically, I personally don't see a big difference.

I will argue that switching the order (to someone familiar with the standard order) will sound "wrong", but not because the reversed order is wrong... it's simply not how the company brands itself.

That being said, in English, it's significantly more common to name a company with the generic noun (studio, films, productions, etc.) last, as can bee seen on lists of companies:

So, Studio Ghibli sounds fine and Ghibli Studio sounds off and Universal Studios is right but Studios Universal isn't recognizable but "Studio Ghibli" doesn't sound more right or wrong next to "Universal Studios".

Similar subject in the question Why are lakes called "Lake Soandso" but seas are called "Soandso Sea"? This addresses more the why of this question, whereas you're asking if there's any difference in meaning.

Improve this answer
4

By putting the noun first and the modifier second, as in

Studio Zen

or

Team USA

the normal word order is reversed. Thus, the whole phrase catches more attention than the regular word order of modifier, then noun, as in

Zen Studio

or

"USA Team"

Any time you deviate from normal word order, you are trying to call attention to something or stress something or sound a bit groovy.

In his poem "i thank You God for most this amazing” by e.e. cummings, the poet uses the exceptional deviation from standard word order by putting the modifier most in front of this in the first clause:

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

The normal word order would be "this most amazing day," but e.e. cummings, who was a magician with words, does something in his poem that can't really be done in prose. But it is another example of the use of non-normal word order in order to say something more powerfully than normal word order does.

While Team USA and Studio Zen may not be as magical as what e.e. cummings has written, they are still more interesting than USA Team and Zen Studio.

Improve this answer
1
  • 2
    So how do you know that the "standard" is for the noun to be first? USA Team is clearly odd sounding but "Skywalker Ranch" is better than "Ranch Skywalker"... How is "Studio Ghibli" more standard than "Disney Studios"? I don't see how there's any argument that it's simply arbitrary and the decision of the company as to which sounds better.
    – Catija ♦
    Dec 6, 2015 at 23:27

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .