On the Administration of the suffix “-do” in UK to US name changes

6 Notes

UK creation: The board game ‘Cluedo’

Name when released in the US: ‘Clue’

Net change: Removal of “do”

UK creation: Where’s Wally?

Name when released in the US: Where’s Waldo?

Net change: Replacement of “-ly” with “-do”

Notes:

The name ‘Cluedo’ is a play on the name of another British board game, ‘Ludo’, a game which is a) pretty much unknown outside Great Britain and b) more dull than someone who pretends to like Arvo Part.

When the US-made cartoon series of Where’s Waldo? was released in the UK, all references to Waldo were replaced with Wally. Wally’s nemesis Odlaw (“Waldo” backwards), who was created for the cartoon, has the same name in the British version. The ‘backwards name’ reference is therefore lost to most English kids.

It is unclear as to why the character was not renamed “Yllaw” for the British version. Possible reasons include a) the fact that it’s impossible to pronounce and b) the fact that it looks Welsh and the cartoon’s makers were scared of a backlash from the lucrative Welsh youth market.

There is speculation that the removal of the ‘do’ from ‘Cluedo’ necessitated the addition of a ‘do’ to another UK to US import in order to retain good relations between the two countries. Negotiations between the nations lasted for years, until a compromise was reached and Wally became Waldo. However, there is a growing movement in the UK that is campaigning to have the ‘Ly’ that was taken from Wally added to something else crossing the Atlantic. One solution to this was to rename the band Coldplay, “Coldplayly” in the US, but Chris Martin vetoed the proposal. Discussions are ongoing.