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Monday, February 8, 2010

The Mystery of Vijontest

by: Mason

Howie Mandel. My parents remember him from St Elsewhere, and I remember him from reruns of Bobby's World. You might remember him from NBC's version of Deal or No Deal too. He also did some voice acting for Muppet Babies, which re-ran on Cartoon Network against stiff opposition from Rugrats. No offense Howie, but the production values on Muppet Babies were just too off-putting compared to Rugrats in all its lump-headed glory.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about. At 7:37 AM on February 6th, 2010, Mr. Mandel (via Twitter) gave us this description of America: Vijontest. Howie, what does this mean?
I've tried saying it repeatedly with different accents etc, like Mad Gab, spelling it backwards, tsetnojiv, even rearranging the letters (vest joint?). No luck. So I'm going into this blind.

Now I shall endeavor to find a definition of this word.

Possibility #1: A Canadian insult.
As we all know, via Wikipedia, Howie Mandel is Canadian. He currently lives in Los Angeles, but that's only because that's where the show business is. There are tons of Canadians who have made it big in America, and we love them! But I have a sneaking suspicion that they aren't as fond of us as we are of them.

Possibility #2: A Dutch insult.
As we all know, via Wikipedia, Howie Mandel hosted the American and Canadian versions of Deal or No Deal. And, according to Wikipedia, Deal or No Deal is of Dutch origin. The Netherlands is an extremely progressive area, and Vijontest is obviously a Dutch insult, criticizing us for being so conservative. Or at least slow on the uptake.

That's all I have. What do you think Vijontest means?

1 comment:

  1. Vijon Laboratories develops health and beauty products. Some of their tests are inadequate according to this article from 2006

    http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/154459111.html
    OR
    perhaps vijon is the japanese transliteration of the borrowed word for vision, as in "Fyūchā Vijon"

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