If you translate Toronto Torch to French, it takes on an entirely different, and offensive meaning. What version of Wicked are we using? Looking deeper at two PWHL names.
If you translate Toronto Torch to French, it takes on an entirely different, and offensive meaning. What version of Wicked are we using? Looking deeper at two PWHL names.
Two weeks after the PWHL's proposed team names leaked, no new names have been trademarked by the league.
In fact, the only news on the PWHL's name and logo front is that the six team names - Boston Wicked, Minnesota Superior, Montreal Echo, New York Sound, and Toronto Torch - were also trademarked in Canada.
When the original leak of the names from the United States Patent and Trademark Office emerged, the backlash from fans, media, and observers was harsh.
Teams going with a singular name from start to finish in the branding process, including at the trademarking step, is almost non-existant in professional sport, but with only a week before training camps open, and less than two months before the inaugural season drops the puck, this may be a step the PWHL plans to skip, and a shortcut they're willing to take.
Like or dislike, as the names will undoubtedly grow on fans over time, there is one issue that's been discussed on social media and among French speaking fans
That issue is the translation of the Toronto Torch name. The team will certainly face criticism related to the derogatory slur toward women which comes with translating their Toronto Torch name to French in both Montreal and Ottawa, two of the largest French speaking cities in North America. Canada itself has more than eight million French language citizens. In a tame version, the term is sometimes used as a "Vulgar expression to designate a mediocre and often obese woman, having little spirit and little intelligence. The term "torch" originates as the result of the action of wiping one's bottom..."
The regional interpretation of a name, like Torch, was also raised, albeit without the derogatory translation, when looking at the Boston Wicked.
Depending on the use, Wicked can be an adjective or adverb. When sports teams use these manufactured names, like the Oakland Athletics, it's the rare use of an adjective as a noun. Similarly, we can find adjectives in names like the Kansas City Royals, Washington Nationals, and yes, the Boston Celtics. These pluralized names use adjectives as nouns describing the players on the team. If Wicked is an adjective used to describe the athletes on the team, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it can mean those players are "morally very bad, evil, fierce, vicious, disgustingly unpleasant." In that way, it works. The name could be a reference to the nearby Salem witch trials, as the word 'wicked' came from the Old English word, 'wicce'.
In Boston however, Wicked is rarely used in this way. Rather, in New England, "wicked" is used as a degree adverb usually meaning "very" or "extremely." In this case, the Boston Very or the Boston Extremely don't land well. While it was popularized in a single line from the movie Good Will Hunting ("my boy's wicked smart"), the phrase itself as it's tied to Boston, existed long before the 1997 film that won two Academy Awards. In use, Boston residents might say something is "wicked cool" or "wicked awesome," or that the weather outside is "wicked hot."
Or in the case of Boston signee Jessica DiGiloramo, she stated she's "wicked excited to be playing for Boston."
And in terms of local connections, we really can't forget the popular reality TV show based in Gloucester, Massachusetts "Wicked Tuna" which has been running for more than a decade. The show recently wrapped up their 12th season, airing since 2012, and even sparked a spin-off, "Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks" which itself ran for seven years.
Fans voiced their hopes that the PWHL's current trademarked names would be the first wave of many like most teams searching for names have done in the past.
In 2016 prior to settling on the Vegas Golden Knights name, Vegas' group also trademarked the Silver Knights and Desert Knights. They ended up using the Silver Knights name for their AHL affiliate in Henderson, California, and still had a trademark dispute with the US Army over the Golden Knights name. They also trademarked the names with and without "Las" in front of the Vegas name.
In Seattle, the NHL ownership group went even further, trademarking 13 names - Seattle Cougars, Seattle Eagles, Seattle Emeralds, Seattle Evergreens, Seattle Firebirds, Seattle Kraken, Seattle Rainiers, Seattle Renegades, Seattle Sea Lions, Seattle Seals, Seattle Sockeyes, Seattle Totems and Seattle Whales. Eventually, the team chose the Kraken, which Sports Illustrated ranked as 13th out of 13 possible names when evaluating the choices.
When the Cleveland baseball team set about renaming their club in 2021, the group owned trademarks to Blues, Naps and Bronchos, and they challenged applications to the names Natives, Foresters, Warriors, Guardians, Cleveland Baseball Club, Heroes, and Squires, eventually landing on the Guardians.
The league publicly stated they will have team names by the time the puck drops, and with the clock quickly moving toward the opening of the inaugural PWHL season, it looks more likely that the Toronto Torch, New York Sound, Montreal Echo, Minnesota Superior, Ottawa Alert, and Boston Wicked are set to become the original six of the PWHL.