Elm Street business observations

[ron_newman]

1) Diva Lounge has closed, its sign has been taken down, and there is now a full wall separating it from Diva restaurant. As discussed earlier, this will become the first Amsterdam Falafelshop outside of Washington, DC. However there are not yet any signs indicating this.

2) A letter in the mailbox of the former Namaskar restaurant is addressed to "BUNJABI GRILL". Could this possibly be the name of a new restaurant that will replace Namaskar? (And could it be a misspelling of "Punjabi"? There is a Punjabi Grill in Framingham.)

3) The former Farmer's Bounty is now plastered with paper signs advertising the future iYo Cafe. The signs say it will feature Fresh Baked Goods, Unique Treats, Dessert Fondues, Cozy Fireplace, Private Party/Study Space, Coffee + Tea, Espresso Bar, Iced Beverages, Frozen Blends, Bottled Favorites, Self Serve Frozen Yogurt, Unique Toppings, Mixins, Yogurt Parfaits + Fruit Smoothies, Make Your Own Waffles, FroYo Cakes + ToGo Pints.

Also, it will be locally owned (so, probably not related to frozen yogurt places with the same name in both Vietnam and Denton, Texas). They are now hiring "Baristas and Team Members". They have a Facebook page (without much content yet). The "Store and Concept Design" is by Approach Architects who can be reached at 617-556-2627.

Comments

[jere7my.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info! No disrespect to Hindi intended — the detail level of the source alphabet doesn't matter so much as the phonemes available in the target language. "Dorakon" is an accepted transliteration of "dragon" in Japanese, for instance, which says nothing about what English can do. All it would take for "Bunjabi" to be an accepted transliteration would be for someone somewhere along the line to hear a voiced initial consonant instead of an unvoiced one, which is not an uncommon thing. I see a few Bunjabi business names on Google.

(I think "Bombay" is a transliteration issue as well — the etymology Slate provides is probably folk etymology. From the online etymology dictionary, Bombay is "...popularly explained as Portuguese bom bahia 'good bay,' but that seems folk etymology (for one, the adj. is masc. and the n. is fem.), and the more likely candidate is the local Mumbadevi 'Goddess Mumba,' a Hindu deity worshipped there." m/b confusion is pretty common as well.)