You Say Aquapel, I Say Rain-X

Today as my husband and I sat at Frank's Automotive while Frank ran computer codes for some illuminated dashboard warning lights, I amused myself by scanning magazines and product shelves for Latin connections. Neither disappointed! First the shelves: I spied a product near the windshield wiper blades called Aquapel, and knew immediately what it was. The Latin noun aqua, ae f. means "water," and the Latin verb pello, pellere, pepuli, pulsum means "I drive," so the trade name Aquapel means "driving back water," an excellent name for a product that repels (drives back) water from your car windshield. While I was unfamiliar with Aquapel, I have used a competing product called Rain-X, another good name also with a Latin connection. The X part of the name is a shortened form of the Latin preposition ex meaning "out," so the Rain-X name means "Rain out," as in "Get out of here, rain!" Which product is better? Judge for yourself by checking the Grudge Match posting on the Aquapel website.

Look for the magazine find tomorrow!