List of Imaginary Things: The One Ring, Magic Wands and Prepaid CREDIT Cards

It is enjoyable to watch movies, read books or play games involving creatures or elements of pure inspired fiction. Escape from the daily grind of reality seems to be quite a bit more popular than when I was a kid, or maybe just more readily available. Some of the greatest stories out there revolve around a protagonist trying to overcome some fantastic set of challenges. More often than not, these fantasies involve a mystical item or tool. Typically, the keepsake has a proper name or title. Can you imagine if some of these renowned articles had been given an improper or different name?

Let us start with the world of wizards and witches. No, not necessarily Hogwart’s and the world of Harry Potter, but the entire magical universe. What if Magic Wands were called something else, say Tricky Sticks? I guess that, technically the name fits, and it does rhyme, but it just doesn’t quite sound right, does it? How about Frodo and The One Ring? What if they called it The One Dark Piece of Jewelry? Well, for starters, it’s a ring, not just any old piece of jewelry and by calling it such, the reader gets a clear mental picture of the object rather than imagining some other bauble. And what about Wonder Woman’s Golden Lasso? Could you imagine if it was called her Truth String?

Now, in the real world items get inappropriately named constantly, for the sake of marketing purposes or maybe plain laziness. Tennis Shoes are a good example, as many people call them such even though they may not use them to actually play tennis (obviously, steps have been taken in recent years to correct this, i.e. “cross trainers”, etc.). Another slightly mis-named product is Donkey Kong. Many people are familiar with the popular 80’s video game, but has anyone ever actually seen a donkey in it? The last example that I would like to mention is Prepaid CREDIT Cards. The title is actually an oxymoron. If you “prepay” or load money onto a card, then there is no “credit” involved. The funds were YOURS to begin with. When someone agrees to loan you money, THAT is considered “credit”.

Sometimes naming something incorrectly can actually stick, although many times it only leads to confusion on the customer’s part. Especially if there is a language barrier. As someone who is a member of the prepaid industry, I implore others to keep it as simple as possible by calling them prepaid DEBIT cards. Given the number of players in the prepaid card industry and the complexity of fees and card features, it would be great if we could actually have some continuity.

Tracy Jones is a content contributor for GetDebit.com, which provides information about prepaid products, including the Green Dot Gold Visa Card.

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