Adani name change to Bravus

Bad connotations can stick to a word until the only solution, if we want a change in image, is to abandon the word entirely and start afresh.  It is not often that a company wants to do this and it says something about Adani that they think their name is mud in Australia and therefore want to change it. They deny that that is the reason, stating that the changes in the nature and scope of the company require new branding.  They felt that the courage shown by the company over the years in holding to its mission and to its community prompted the choice of the Latin word meaning ‘brave’ for the new company name Bravus.

 There are two problems with this.  One is that there is no such Latin word.  The Latin word meaning ‘brave’ is fortis from which we get the English fortitude. My Latin dictionary does not list bravus at all. The etymology of the English brave is obscure but seems to lie in Romance languages.  There are forms of this word in French, Italian, Spanish, Provençal and Catalan.  There have been attempts to link it to a hypothetical Latin form brabidus  (linked to rabidus) meaning ‘wild, fierce, mad’ but there is no conclusive evidence for this. Another suggestion is that it is linked to barbarus but this is even less convincing. Finally it is linked with a possible Medieval Latin bravo a mercenary soldier.  Whichever way you look at it, bravus has a murky past which is, perhaps, fitting.

 The other problem is that despite their best efforts to shed the mud of bad connotations, it will undoubtedly stick again and Bravus will end up having the same bad odour as Adani.