Defense: A Jeep by Any Other Name

Perhaps the only thing more faithful than the good old Army Jeep was its good old name, which seemed to capture the spunk of that sprightly warhorse. Now the Pentagon plans to change both with a sometimes klutzy replacement burdened by a certainly klutzy name: the High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). The manufacturer, AM General Corp., calls it the Hummer. No way, says the Army: that rhymes with bummer. It prefers "the HummVee," hardly a name likely to catch on with the average grunt.

So far bummer might have the inside track. The vehicle, which comes with power steering...

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