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Him Indoors

Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

always near a gas station

English answer:

found in a convenience store

Added to glossary by airmailrpl
Oct 13, 2017 18:22
6 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term

always near a gas station

English Marketing Marketing / Market Research
This is a business training course. In this part, the speaker emphasizes the importance of creating a positive professional brand. If you have a negative trait, you should try to change your brand and make people see your negative trait as something more positive.

Commercial brands never describe themselves as "cheap food" or "always near a gas station." Instead they tell a story.
A story that rewrites negative traits with neutral ones.

I'd like to confirm that I understood "always near a gas station" correctly. Does it mean that something is so common that you can find it everywhere? Why is this negative? Are products sold near gas stations poor quality? I'm a bit confused about it.

Thank you!
Responses
4 found in a convenience store
Change log

Oct 18, 2017 13:50: airmailrpl Created KOG entry

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (2): writeaway, Yvonne Gallagher

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Discussion

B D Finch Oct 16, 2017:
@airmailpl1 Perhaps you are thinking specifically of either remote or motorway gas stations?
airmailrpl Oct 16, 2017:
B D Finch Guess that you are not familiar with the convenience stores in the USA either - because that is the case there and in Brasil also
B D Finch Oct 16, 2017:
@airmailpl Higher prices? That may be the case in Brazil, but it isn't the case anywhere I'm familiar with.
airmailrpl Oct 15, 2017:
>Are products sold near gas stations poor quality? >Are products sold near gas stations poor quality?
Usually not - but usually sold at much higher prices
Daryo Oct 15, 2017:
another element the country for which the translation is meant might not be as "car-centred" as the country for which the ST was written - so the literal "always near a gas station" might sound slightly weird or give totally different associations in the target country.

It's probably better to look at implied meanings, like "not worth a detour" ... as the way "always near a gas station" is presented in the ST it sounds like it's not meant to be any kind of strong positive point!

OTOH it could be just left as it is - use the most literal translation and let them discuss the implied meanings during the live training session [if it's intended for that kind of use] ...
B D Finch Oct 14, 2017:
Don't forget the "always" While being near a gas/petrol station might be convenient, a food outlet that is "always" near one is clearly of such indifferent quality that nobody would go out of their way to find it. So, it's a place you would only use because of the convenience of it being by the petrol station.
Tina Vonhof (X) Oct 14, 2017:
I think this could also be seen as a positive trait. How about 'you will find us very conveniently located near/at gas stations, so you can fill up on gas and stock up on food and freshly made coffee at the same time'. If it's a restaurant chain you could embellish it even more by saying something about 'have a delicious, reasonably priced dinner'. It's all in the eye of the beholder.
Matheus Chaud (asker) Oct 14, 2017:
@Phil,
That's good advice, I'll rewrite that trying to convey the main point.
I forgot to mention - that's oral language that's been transcribed (it's a video course). I think the guy is American, but I'm not 100% sure. Thank you!

@Charles,
I agree with you: maybe the point is that they're not attractive ways to mention those qualities.
Thank you for your comment!
Charles Davis Oct 13, 2017:
I think the idea could be that these two descriptions should be avoided because although they are both positive in their own way they are not likely to attract customers. Cheap food will save you money, but sounds as though it will be poor quality. Always being near a gas station is convenient if you need gas, but doesn't sound like an attractive location. Maybe that's the idea: these might seem to be selling points but are not effective ways to market your brand.
But I agree with Phil: this fails to make its point clearly.
philgoddard Oct 13, 2017:
I think this is bad writing, because its meaning is not clear. My first thought was "there's always one of our gas stations near you", but that is not a negative trait.
All I can think of is "our outlets are always located near gas stations", but I can't think what kind of business this might be.
If it were a chain of convenience stores, "always AT gas stations" might make sense.
If you're translating it into Portuguese, it might be better to rewrite it and think of a better example. For example in the US, most outlets of Waffle House seem to be located near freeway exits.

Responses

19 hrs
Selected

found in a convenience store

always near a gas station => found in a convenience store
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you all for your help!! Your opinions in the discussion were really helpful."
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