PETROL, COCKTAILS, AND WAKEFIELD:

THE PASSIONS OF SLOVENE

What do the Slovenians think about English words in business names? This:

In Slovene, the role of the prefix "inter-" is occupied by "med-", e.g. mednarodni (international).

ZJRS 17 does not affect Slovenia's supermarket chain Interspar. They did not want to be Medspar. It might be successfully argued in a non-Anglophone legislature that Interspar means nothing, equally in all languages. Spar is the international trademark of a Dutch company.

So far so good. The name Interspar belongs to a special class, a superlanguage. Companies don't complain when they become generic, like a hoover. Losing the capital letter means they've won.

For reasons less clear, the company Petrol (spoken with a dramatic stress on the second syllable) shows no sign of offering equal billing to Bencin. Petrol was already a thing, before the company. But not in Slovenia or Slovene.

Petrol, like skiing and casinos, is absent from the 1962 Slovenski Pravopis, my reference guide to the inauthenticity of words trying to bluff their way into the Slovene lexicon.

Traditional stalwart Slovene terms, such as "cocktail" and "cross-country", have always been with us.

But there has been a progressive dilution of Slovenian culture by words, words with no right to be hanging around causing progress.

It all began innocently enough.

It is quickly apparent Petrol's debut in the 2001 Pravopis is the firm, not the product itself. [55] 

And so it has remained up to the present [56]

With the Pravopis's propensity for esoteric random walks with proper nouns - 1962's Wagner and Wall Street are joined by Wakefield and a decapitalised wehrmacht - Petrol's promotion to iconic brand in 2001 might be philologically tolerable. But no edition to the present day claims petrol-with-a-small-p is bencin.

Was Petrol-with-a-big-P simply prescient in registering its unusually generic but alien moniker?

In a testament to Slovenian obstinacy, Petrol d.o.o.'s long slog since its 1953 brand grab has been unsuccessful in persuading either drivers or lexicographers to equate the proper noun brand with its common noun product.

From 1947-53 it was called Jugopetrol, so they dodged a couple of bullets there.

For the locals, small-p-petrol remains a foreign word, inappropriate to the gassing up process, which takes place using the bencinska črpalka, at a bencinska postaja.

Big Petrol has somehow failed to convince the autochthons, while for Slovene learners its brand is a false friend, a cultural anomaly.

No question, the firm's inclusion since the 2001 Pravopis confers a status Esso or Shell have yet to equal. Has Big P been trying to become the hoover of car juice pumping?

Their livery doesn't say BENCIN, but this unpatriotic behaviour is excused by ZJRS 34(2). The ZJRS, passed into force under the government of Anton Rop, did not appear until 2004, with no retrospective effect.

You cannot now start a company called, say, The Petrol People, without giving "Bencinski Ljudje" equal or greater prominence.

And good luck to PETROL, really. For trying to commandeer a word it turned out Slovenians were quite resilient to anyway, in the same way UK people resist calling petrol gas.

As Petrol, along with the Empire State Building and polaroid-with-a-small-p made their 2001 debut, Wakefield slipped quietly away, a crazy crush about whose Slovenian origins we can only speculate. But Coventry has remained steadfast in the Pravopis for sixty years or more.

But a Pandora's karton of pločevinke črvov has been opened, exposing a Slovenian business community that should cower in shame (according to fans of the language), and pray for forgiveness.

By 2022 nearly a third of mednarodni companies had been mesmerised by an almost irresistible foreign force into calling themselves "International", often instead, instead of as well.

And there was worse to come, as a diligent citizen spotted 50% of the capital's 5-star hotels hadn't even bothered to do a website in Slovene, and went ballistic.

As demonstrators fought riot police with tear gas and water cannons on the streets of Ljubljana, a market inspector finally delivered a warning to the errant hotelier.

But there appeared no equally huge sign saying "MEDCELINSKO" - there's no lawyering your way out of this one, surely? Determined journalists kept banging away about the website, demanding fines, order in the land etc., but it seems the question of Article 17 never came up. 

How could the Market Inspector ignore a violation visible across town? Because although the hotel is only a few years old, the Intercontinental Hotel Group trademarked INTERCONTINENTAL, under No. 890,271, first used in 1948, and dating from April 29, 1970, and INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS AND RESORTS, under No. 2,005,852, first used in February 1995 and dating from October 8, 1996.

Woe betide the small entrepreneur who dares trying to call his firm  "Intercontinental Hrana" or "Intercontinental Potovanja". Not because of IHG's trademark, but because of the ZJRS. This has not been tested in Slovenia, not even by Intercontinental Hotels Group (a franchise operator).

The media are in on the game too!

Reporter, a word of Latin (reportare: carry back) then French origin, is not in the Slovenski Pravopis 1962.

My blood boiled when I realised the publisher was not Novinarski Mediji, as it seemed I should have the legal right to expect, but that the sinister-sounding Reporter Media d.o.o., had managed to slip through the cracks by Slovenia altering its language again, only this time with a common noun.

But why did he do this?

Although the 1962 Slovenski Pravopis was quick to spot the value of the lastest modern foreign influences, "reporter" didn't make it in until 2001. [52]

But the language academy did not change the rules enough, as "media", like "intercontinental" remains foreign and out of bounds in Slovenian business nomenclature, even in 2022. [53]

MORE NEW WORDS: BETTER OR WORSE?

Another interesting example is "wellness", which in the youth of some yet alive was a word which "sounded strange and unnecessary" [60].

Although an old word, once thought a nonce-word, it had fallen out of favour. In everyday use, all we had or needed back in the 20th century were "health" and "well-being".

Wellness was recast in the 1970s to sell things. After "health foods" and "health clubs", merchants of more peripheral contributions, such as health plans and health candles, could gain little traction selling something people had come to take for granted as a basic human right.

The resurrected wellness was more flexible, and no longer meant merely "state of being well or in good health" as it had since the 1650s.

This more schmoozy, woolly, wellness has galumphed ahead, beating some other foreign concepts into the lexicon, such as signwriting and level crossings - which, like egg on toast, aren't a thing in Slovenia.

Wellness suits the capitalist medical model because it suggests something EXTRA. And anyone - not just doctors - can sell it.

For reasons like these, an allegedly illegal tsunami (rare in the Med, this became a Slovene word in 2001) is washing a tide of foreign filth over the shifting sands of lawful language, carrying Slovenia's alternately apoplectic and apoptotic language fans away.

These linguistic vandals came from all strata of society. Thus, ZJRS Article 20 demands that "Public warning signs, written or spoken instructions, information and announcements in the Republic of Slovenia are in Slovenian" and "it must be possible to choose the Slovenian language and the Slovenian alphabet must be taken into account."

A search of the business register reveals four companies are "sporting". Only one is "športing", and one is both. But only your eyes, not the AJPES database, can tell you this.

Which is a shame for detectives hunting for Article 17 violators among the 8535 identical results for "sport" and "šport". There is no sport in the Pravopis.

It's the same story for all 181463 business names containing š or s, the 49360 containing ž or z, and the 21231 containing č or c. They cannot be separated by the user. It's as if AJPES is trying to destroy Slovenia's alphabet.

Thus the facility responsible for upholding the law on the Slovene language in the business sphere is immune to Slovene language enquiries and, I'm guessing, a fine under ZJRS 20.

Consequently it is impossible to expose Slovenia's betrayal by a web of illegal šport language users without a tedious export and analysis of the AJPES data. This is what Slovenians pay their taxes for.

How šport (Latin portare: "get carried away", mentally, in a fun sense; Old French: desporter) acquired its š (sh) upon its return from the West is unclear.

Why does sport need a sh? Did Slovenia think look, we've got this letter here, let's make sport more Slovenian? The only connection seems to be drinking. Deutsch might be involved - and drinking.

"Študent" is a similar example, but unlike sport, "student" with an alveolar hissing sibilant crept into the lexicon sometime after the 2001 Pravopis. This drier student has no great following on AJPES.

A visual inspection of 100 sporting records yielded a 12% "sport"-only rate. 7025 of the 8535 with šport/sport contain a Slovene adjectival "športn-" giving a second estimate suggesting a theoretical limit of 17.69% non-compliance. But no data-wrangling methodology is reliable, due to the AJPES computer's ZJRS-20-proof alphabet.

A third estimate based on a Slovene media corpus revealed exactly 6000 results for "sport" and 46924 for "šport" [68], giving an 11.34% to 88.66% split. These queries expire so you'll need to re-enter them yourself.

By contrast only 87 Trendi results were obtained from three years' worth of Slovenian journalism concerning "tečaj slovenščine" [68] - presumably not for foreigners. Slovenians had 608 times as many chances to read about sport/šport than this.

In the same period there were 41 hits for "Slovene".

But for "Slovene language", "Slovene lessons", "teaching [of] Slovene", and "Slovene course" there were zero each.

And for "learn Slovene" there was 1. The Slovenian media or medija's sole point of contact with the promotion of Slovene for Anglophones turns out to be "Dave from Ireland" [71].

Dave's Irishness is corny, and with its own voicing characteristics Irish English is an odd choice for a base language to superimpose, as though the chief goal in any course for Anglophones is to produce what Slovene sounds like spoken by an Irishman. Neither of the couple's accents are a positive help.

Dave is super-determined, which is just as well considering the three minutes available. But there was no Dave from 2005-2020 on the internet, only people taking the mick. See extra notes on Dave.

Aside from its problem with the alphabet it has been smoother sailing at AJPES, as for the first time, the extent of the catastrophic English Plague swarming uncontrollably in Slovenian offices, across industrial estates, through our fields is revealed.

Offending firms include many who misrepresent the phonemes used in Slovene, including: hard C or CK instead of K; CH, SH/SI/TI and DG/G/J instead of Č and Š and Ž; PH instead of F; wide A instead of EJ; long I instead of AJ; consonant-type Y instead of J; X instead of KS; they also include letters or compounds which may be silent in English or unpronounceable in Slovene: TH, EE, OE, OI, OO, OU, OW, OY, G, H, WHATMOUGH, and so on.

Article 18 of the ZJRS assures us that "words in a foreign language may be used on behalf of an establishment, shop, catering and other premises or other business premises if they mean an internationally used term for an individual type of business premises, if they contain a foreign trademark or service mark or in the case of shorter phrases which, due to their normal use, are comprehensible to the majority of consumers, provided that they form an integral part of the corporate image."

What English word isn't an internationally used term? The business names which are cases of "storitveno znamko ali če gre za krajše besedne zveze, ki so zaradi običajne rabe razumljive večini potrošnikov, če predstavljajo sestavni del celostne podobe" were examined in search of a pattern - but without any data on name applications rejected by AJPES as too foreign.

The colour-coded list of de facto non-offending words shows in descending colour priority (and as far as possible without naming names) companies without mirror names whose names contain words:

- that are not in the latest Slovenski Pravopis [54] and so potentially illegal

- in the latest, but not the 2001 Pravopis [57] so may have been illegal in the past

- that are not in the 1962 Pravopis

- in the 2001 Pravopis but not before or since

- that are potentially not-well-enough-known, associated with the lead word in registered names; priority is given to singletons not otherwise listed

Names remaining in white are innocent, on the grounds of being in the official lexicon for at least six decades.

Other colour highlighting:

- English/Slovene prevalence AJPES search: counts stringA-(stringA and stringB) compared to stringB-(stringA and stringB)

- Legal tips and notes to help you navigate Slovenia's business-naming minefield.

...But remember, you'll still be illegal for not speaking Slovene, whatever name you pick.

As of mid-2022 the AJPES Register contained as many as:

1884 firms with "Marketing", compared to 872 with "trženje" and 45 with both
1746 firms with "Invest(ment/ing/or/s)", including 1 "Accord", 1 "Bay", 1 "Correct" and compounds *
1024 firms with "Sport(ing/s)" and compounds - low 12% estimate, true S:Š ratio disguised by illegal system!
766 firms with "Trad(es/er/ers/ing)", including 1 "Aliens", 1 "Compare"
685 firms with "Group", compared to 511 with "skupin-" and 6 with both
481 firms with "Media" and compounds, compared to 22 "Medija-" and 0 with both
467 firms with "Design", compared to 2563 with "Oblikovanje", 126 with "Dizajn" and 0 with all three
441 firms with "Team", compared to 393 "Tim", the 2 with both are people called Tim
423 firms with "Art(ist/istic/s)", including "CorkArt"
318 firms with "International", compared to 691 with "Mednarod-" and 29 with both
262 firms with "Management", compared to 1387 with "Upravljanj-" and 17 with both
257 firms with "Solution(s)", including 1 "Structured", 1 "Measuring", 1 "Allied" and more
246 firms with "Pizz(a/e/eria)" and compounds
234 firms with "Top"
217 firms with "Consult(ing/ant/s)", compared to 24172 "Svetova-" and 382 with both
216 firms with "Car(s)" - only "rent-a-car" is legally Slovene
206 firms with "Holding(s)"
191 firms with "Global", compared to 50 "Globaln-" and 1 with both
181 firms with "Company" *
181 firms with "Servic(e/ing/s)", including 1 with "Coating Formulation"
171 firms with "Smart" inc. 1 "House", 1 "Money" and compounds, compared to 50 "Pametn-" and 4 with both *
157 firms with "Metal(s)", including 1 "Heavy" - the only legal Slovene metal is "heavy metal" *
157 firms with "Go", including 1 "Trim", 1 "To", 1 "Trans" and compounds
149 firms with "Club", compared to 4048 with "Klub" and 115 with both - only "Rotary Club" is legally Slovene *
141 firms with "Import(er/ing/s)", compared to 597 with "Uvoz-" and 2 with both
137 firms with "Export(er/ing/s)", compared to 511 with "Izvoz-" and 5 with both *
132 firms with "Line(s)"
128 firms with "Beauty", 1 "Attitude" *
122 firms with "Taxi(s)", compared to 154 "Taksi" and 0 with both *
121 firms with "Partners", compared to 22 with "Partnerji" and 0 with both
119 firms with "Commerc(e/ial)"
119 firms with "Auto(motive/mate/d/mation)", inc. 1 "Detailing" and compounds, compared to 5859 with "avto"
111 firms with "System(s)", including 1 "Technical Assembly" and 1 "Higher Ground Systems" ***
108 firms with "Trend(y/s)" *
98 firms with "Air" and compounds compared to 81 "Zrak/Zračn-", 3 with both - "aircondition" is legal, but not -ing
91 firms with "Idea(s)" and compounds, compared to 33 with "Ideja" and 0 with both
91 firms with "Life(style/s)" and some compounds *
91 firms with "Green", including 1 "Smell" and compounds
89 firms with "Star(s)", compared to 51 with "Zvezd-" and 0 with both
87 firms with "Shop(ping)" - only "duty free shop" is legally Slovene
86 firms with "Film(s)"
83 firms with "Engine(er/ing)", including 1 "Bureau", compared to 6534 with "Inženir-" and 22 with both
82 firms with "Technologies", including 1 "Ambitious Lion", 1 "Realtime", 1 "Simple"
82 firms with "Coach(ing)", including 1 "Just Mick", 1 "Humanity" *
79 firms with "Hair", compared to 1 "Lasje" and 0 with both
77 firms with "Nail(s)"
69 firms with "Lion(s)" and compounds
68 firms with "Digital", compared to 281 "Digitaln-" and 15 with both
67 firms with "Gold(en)", including 1 "Beans", 1 "Fox" and 1 "Gloves" *
66 firms with "Farm(ing/s)", compared to 6379 "Kmet-" and 3 with both - 248 people had this surname in 2010 (SURS)
63 firms with "Styl(e/ing/s)" - only "slope style" is legally Slovene *
58 firms with "Hous(e/ing)" - only "house music" or "in house" is legally Slovene
57 firms with "Point(s)" including 1 "Full", 1 "Gate", 1 "Sweet" and 1 "Out" *
56 firms with "Vision(s/ary)" and some compound endings compared to 99 "Vizj-/Vizionar" and 0 with both *
54 firms with "Print(er/ers/ing)", compared to 644 with "Tisk-" and 36 with both
54 firms with "Work(er/er/ing/shop/out/s)", 1 "Hard", 1 "Youth" and 1 "Addict", some compounds **
53 firms with "Slovenia", compared to 424 with "Slovenija" and 10 with both
53 firms with "Data", including 1 "Driven" and 1 "Moving"
52 firms with "Light(ing/ness/s)" and compounds - only "light show" and "day light" are legal Slovene **
51 firms with "Logistics", compared to 762 "Logistik-" and 14 with both
51 firms with "Event(s)"
51 firms with "Adriatic", including 1 "Appraisal" and 1 "Maritime"
49 firms with "Power", compared to 878 "Energija" and 4 with both *
48 firms with "Food(s)", compared to 445 "Hran-" and 10 with both - only "fast/slow food" are legal Slovene
47 firms with "Fashion"
47 firms with "Energy" *
45 firms with "Capital"
45 firms with "Business", including 1 with "Heels" compared to 4 "Biznis"
45 firms with "Wood", including 1 "Euphony" **
44 firms with "Pet(s)"
44 firms with "Blue" - only plural "blues" are legal Slovene
44 firms with "Clean(er/ing)" and compounds
43 firms with "Free" and compounds - only "duty free" is legal Slovene *
43 firms with "Wellness", compared to 0 with "Well" *
43 firms with "Gym" *
43 firms with "Agency" *
43 firms with "Ocean(s)" and compounds
41 firms with "Danc(e/r/ing)" - "Tap" and "Show dance" are ok these days, but no dancers *
40 firms with "Big", compared to 268 "Velik-" and 0 with both - "big band", "big foot" and "Big Hole" are legal
40 firms with "Best", including 1 "Be Your" *
40 firms with "Leasing"
39 firms with "Master", 1 "Camera", 1 "Cannabis", 1 "Builders" and compounds - "Flomaster" legalised 2001
39 firms with "Travel(s)"
38 firms with "Home"
38 firms with "Creat(e/ion/ive/s), including 1 "Wakeup" *
37 firms with "Cafe", including 2 "Bossy", 1 "Bull" and 1 "Le Petit" - but "table a cafe" is allowed *
36 firms with "One"
36 firms with "Sky" *
36 firms with "Medical", compared to 489 with "Medicinsk-" and 14 with both
35 firms with "Production(s)", compared to 1139 "Produkcij-" and 40 with both
35 firms with "Develop(er/ment/s)"
33 firms with "Magic(al)" and compounds, including 1 "Paws", compared to 20 "Čarob-" and 0 with both *
33 firms with "Infinity" *
33 firms with "World(wide)", including one "Recycling" - only "World of Warcraft"  is legal Slovene ***
33 firms with "Yacht(s/ing)" *
32 firms with "New", including 1 "Flame" - "new age" is legal Slovene though *
32 firms with "King(s)" and compounds
31 firms with "Steel" and compounds
31 firms with "Photo(graph/graphy/grapher/s" and compounds * - only "Photoshop" is legal Slovene *
31 firms with "Connect(ed/ion/s)", including 1 "Empower", 1 "We" and compounds
31 firms with "Bike(r/s)", including 1 "Vibe" - no bikes, maximum 1 biker
31 firms with "Fast" and compounds - only "fast food" is legal Slovene in business names
30 firms with "Micro", compared to 101 "Mikro" and 2 with both
30 firms with "Express" *
30 firms with "Spirit(s)"
29 firms with "Cool", and compounds - in the 2001 Pravopis, only jazz was legally cool
28 firms with "Pub" - it would have been right between "Ptuj" and "puberteta"
28 firms with "Wine(ry/ries/s)", including 1 "Cave", 1 "Sourcing" and compounds **
27 firms with "Final(ist)"
27 firms with "Moment(um/s)"
27 firms with "Room(s)" - only "chat room" and "room service" are legal Slovene
27 firms with "Box" * - only "juke-box" and something to do with skiing are legal Slovene *
27 firms with "Care"
27 firms with "Thai"
27 firms with "Electric(al/s)" and compounds
26 firms with "Performance", including 1 "Flux" *
26 firms with "Health(y)", including 1 "Choose" and 1 "Factory" **
26 firms with "Expert", including 1 on "Cash" *
26 firms with "Industr(y/ies/ial)" *
26 firms with "Time" - only "time out" is legal Slovene
26 firms with "Extra", including 1 "Mile" - illegal except for "učínek extra partes" *
25 firms with "Body", inc. 5 with "Mind(ing)", 1 "Movement", 1 "Glow" * -  "Bodybuilder" legalised 2001 ***
25 firms with "Mobile" - only "perpétuum móbile" is legally Slovene
24 firms with "Road" related themes, including 3 "Off"
24 firms with "Software", compared to 8 with "Programsko Opremo" and 0 with both *
24 firms with "Network(ing/s), including 1 "Coworking" **
24 firms with "Shin(e/y)" *
23 firms with "Ideal", compared to 1 with "Idealn-" and 0 with both
23 firms with "Brand(ing/s)" and compounds
23 firms with "Floor(ing/s)" and compounds
23 firms with "City" - 2001's most Slovenian cities were Kansas, Oklahoma and Salt Lake *
23 firms with "Man/Men", including 1 "At Work" - only "barmen" are legal Slovene *
22 firms with "Natural(ly)", including 1 "Cosmetix" **
22 firms with "Mov(e/er/ing/ment)", including 1 "To Learn"
21 firms with "Academy" *
21 firms with "Truck(ing/er/s)"
21 firms with "Happy", including 1 "Planner Land" - only "happy end" is legal  Slovene *
21 firms with "Future"21 firms with "Colour"
21 firms with "Real Estate"
21 firms with "Game(s)"
20 firms with "Safe(ty)" *
20 firms with "Innovation(s)"
20 firms with "Press"
20 firms with "Dental", compared to 425 "Zobozdravstven-" and 53 with both
20 firms with "Fun"
20 firms with "Fly" *
20 firms with "Moon", including 1 "Dark", 1 "Moonstone" and some compound endings
20 firms with "Grow(th)" with various compounds, 1 "Feed", 1 "Scale", 1 "Obsessed" and 1 "Tangible" *
19 firms with "Family", including 1 with "Vacations" *
19 firms with "Sound"
19 firms with "Place"
19 firms with "Rock" - not yet born in 1962 Yugoslavia
19 firms with "Alter" - only "alter ego" is legal Slovene
18 firms with "Aviation"
18 firms with "Train(ing/er/s)", including 1 "Brain" and 1 "With Us"
18 firms with "East(ern)" - the "East River" was legal in 2001, probably for the only time
18 firms with "Black"
18 firms with "Ship(ping)"
18 firms with "Apartments", 1 "Pleasant"
18 firms with "Garage"
18 firms with "Total"
18 firms with "Step"
18 firms with "Dream"
18 firms with "Special(ty)" *
18 firms with "Carbon" and compounds
17 firms with "Hydro" and compounds, compared to 164 "Hidro-" and 2 with both *
17 firms with "Poly", including 3 "Polymer(s), compared to 7 "Polimer-" and 2 with both *
17 firms with "Nature"
17 firms with "Electronic"
17 firms with "Distribution"
17 firms with "Paint(ball)"
17 firms with "Bridge" - only the card game is legal Slovene
17 firms with "Office" - but "Foreign Office" is a legal business name
17 firms with "Coffee" - legal if it is "to go"
17 firms with "Corporat(ion/ing/e)", including 1 "Diplomatic" and 1 "Grand" - "Hotel" and "prix" are legal *
16 firms with "Propert(y/ies)" *
16 firms with "Easy" *
16 firms with "Fitness" - the Pravopis advises readers to see "fitnes"
16 firms with "Legal"
16 firms with "Living"
16 firms with "Look(s)", including 2 "Art", 1 "Top", 1 "Perfect", 1 "Back And Laugh"
16 firms with "Love(d)", including 1 "By Dogs", 1 "Bakery", 1 "Become" and 1 "Baby Event" ***
15 firms with "Glass" and compounds
15 firms with "Street(s)" and compounds - "Wall Street" and "Downing Street" would be ok
15 firms with "Form"
15 firms with "Record(s)"
15 firms with "Support(er/ive)", including 1 "Circular" and compounds
15 firms with "Relax(ation)" *
15 firms with "Little", including 1 "Lazy", 1 "Mystery" and 1 "Wonder" **** - "Little Rock" is legal
15 firms with "Securit(y/ies)" *
15 firms with "Weld(er/ing)" *
14 firms with "Oil"
14 firms with "Garden"
14 firms with "Junior"
14 firms with "Heart(beat/s)" and compounds, 1 "Innovation"
14 firms with "First" - but a "first minute" is legal
14 firms with "Account(ing/s)"
14 firms with "Space" - but you can call your firm "Space Shuttle" since 2001
14 firms with "Over" including 1 "Overload", 1 "Overgo", 1 "Overland", 2 "Overseas", 1 "Overtone", compounds
14 firms with "Wing(s)" *
14 firms with "Institute", compared to 917 "Inštitut" and 8 with both
14 firms with "Cut(s)"
13 firms with "Lady" *
13 firms with "Build(ing)" - except "Empire State Building" is a legal name
13 firms with "Good", including 2 with "Mood", 1 "Be", 1 "For You", 1 "Goods" and 1 "Bloom" *
13 firms with "Active"
13 firms with "Wild" *
13 firms with "Crystal(s)" *
13 firms with "Trust"
13 firms with "Diesel"
13 firms with "Seven"
13 firms with "Communication(s)"
12 firms with "Twin(s)", 2 "Trade", 1 "Old" and compounds *
13 firms with "Lynx" **
13 firms with "Quantum", including 1 "Pilots" and 1 "Vitality" **
13 firms with "Dot(s)", including 1 "Grey", 1 "Minty" **
12 firms with "Factory" *
12 firms with "Pink", including 1 "Me Up"
12 firms with "Tool(s)" and compounds
12 firms with "Balance(d)"
12 firms with "Dog(s)" and compounds, compared with 21 "Pes/Psi" and 0 with both - only "hot dog" is legal
12 firms with "Pack", including 1 "Blister", 1 Sticker", and 1 "Bag"
12 firms with "Imperial"
12 firms with "Ask", compared with 2 "Vprašaj-" and 0 with both
12 firms with "Adventure"
12 firms with "Touch", including 1 "Cushy" *
12 firms with "Smile"
12 firms with "White" *
12 firms with "Old"
12 firms with "School(s)"
12 firms with "Country"  - "cross-country" and the music genre are legal Slovene *
12 firms with "Help" and compounds
12 firms with "West(ern)" *
12 firms with "Mad"
12 firms with "Perfect(ion)", including 1 "Meals", 1 "Shot" and 1 "Stay" *
12 firms with "Sweet", including 1 "Meal"
12 firms with "Book(ing/s)" and compounds
11 firms with "Snow(board)", including 1 "Recruiter" and compounds *
11 firms with "Biz"
11 firms with "Queen(s)", including 1 "Cooking Queen" *
11 firms with "Lounge"
11 firms with "Forest", including 1 "Peace"
11 firms with "Fox", including 1 "Famous", 1 "Grey" **
11 firms with "Petrol" - a legal proper noun since 2001, but uncapitalized petrol remains illegal
11 firms with "Direct"
11 firms with "Holiday(s)" *
11 firms with "Motors"
11 firms with "Outdoor(s)"
11 firms with "Cloud(y/s)" and compounds *
10 firms with "Pure", including 1 "Passion", 1 "Infinite"
10 firms with "Glow", including 1 "Up", 1 "Little", 1 "Autumn" and compounds
10 firms with "Transfer(s)"
10 firms with "Flow", including 1 "Own Flow" and 1 "Line", compared with 9 "Tok" **
10 firms with "Live"
10 firms with "Play", including 1 with "Pay", 1 "Long" **
10 firms with "Advert(iser/ising/s)"
10 firms with "Made", including 1 "By Influencers" and 1 "Home" *
9 firms with "Optimal"
9 firms with "Status"
9 firms with "Orange"
9 firms with "Silver"
9 firms with "Key(s)" *
9 firms with "Mountain", including 1 "Massage" , 1 "Spirit" and 1 "Warfare" *
9 firms with "Drive", including 1 "Drive Away" **
9 firms with "Austria"
9 firms with "Level", including 3 "Up", 1 "High", 1 "Next" and 1 "Best" *
9 firms with "Protect(ion)", including 1 "Crop"
9 firms with "Cat"
9 firms with "Sense"
9 firms with "Tax" *
9 firms with "Process(es/ing)", including 1 "Intelligent", 1 "Space" and compounds
9 firms with "Casino", compared to 3 with "Igralni Salon" and 2 with both
9 firms with "Open" and compounds
9 firms with "Escape(r/s), including 1 "There", 1 "Sublime" and compounds
9 firms with "Heaven(ly/s)" *
9 firms with "Lime(s)"
9 firms with "Think", including compounds
9 firms with "Unique" *
9 firms with "Show(room)" and compounds *
8 firms with "Devil(s)"
8 firms with "Quick", including some compounds *
8 firms with "Brain" and compounds
8 firms with "Ultimate"
8 firms with "Training", 1 "Functional", 1 "Extreme", 1 "Dog", 1 "Gyn" (sic) **
8 firms with "Devil(s)"
8 firms with "Eye(s)", including "EyeMazing", "Eye Spy", compared to 2 with "Oko/Oči" and 0 with both **
8 firms with "Enterprise", including 1 "Timeless", 1 "Prime Time"
8 firms with "Advertising"
8 firms with "Beyond", including 1 "Cosmetics" and 1 "Distillery" **
8 firms with "Venus"
8 firms with "Regal"
8 firms with "Quality" *
8 firms with "Therapy" *
8 firms with "Fix" *
8 firms with "Fantasy" *
8 firms with "Football"
8 firms with "Personal", including 1 "Assinstant" (sic) and 1 "It's"
8 firms with "Drum" and compounds
8 firms with "Craft"
8 firms with "Bear" - legal only in the market sense
8 firms with "Parts", including 1 "Lift"
8 firms with "Fish(ing)"
8 firms with "Expo" *
8 firms with "Evolution"
8 firms with "Asset(s)" and compounds
8 firms with "Cable(s)", including 1 "Unicorn" and compounds
8 firms with "Diamond", including 1 "Mindfulness" and 1 "Incentive"
8 firms with "Instrument(s/ation)"
8 firms with "Motion", 1 "E-"
8 firms with "Sign", including "Oglaševanje Signum" and compounds
8 firms with "Grid", including compounds
8 firms with "Frame(d/less/s)", 1 with "Clever"
8 firms with "Roof(ing)" and compounds
7 firms with "Timber"
7 firms with "Physio" and compounds *
7 firms with "College", compared to 64 "Fakulteta" and 1 with both
7 firms with "Door(s)"
7 firms with "Party" *
7 firms with "South"
7 firms with "Bright"
7 firms with "Pipe" - illegal unless you mean taps
7 firms with "Back", including "Come Back", 1 "To Nature", 1 "To The Village", and 1 "Look"
7 firms with "Horse"
7 firms with "Scene", including 1 "Wine Scene Investigations" - "ávtor scéne" is legal Slovene
7 firms with "Edge", 2 of them "Cutting Edge"
7 firms with "Plastic"
7 firms with "Deep", including "Deepvalli"
7 firms with "Recycl(e/ing)" *
7 firms with "Feel" and various endings
7 firms with "Age"
7 firms with "Makeup"
7 firms with "Bank"
7 firms with "Human", 2 with "Rights"
7 firms with "Language(s)" and compounds including 1 "Languagesitter", compared to 637 "Jezik-" and 2 with both
7 firms with "Prince"
7 firms with "Wander(er/lust)" *
7 firms with "Science"
7 firms with "Beat", including 1 "Odd", 1 "Clean" and 1 "Petroleum"
7 firms with "Win(s)" *
6 firms with "Palace"
6 firms with "Collective", including 1 "Lantern", 1 "Moment" and 1 "Warehouse" *
6 firms with "Eleven"
6 firms with "Furniture"
6 firms with "Run"
6 firms with "Doctor" - except doctors of economics, science and honorary, because Latin
6 firms with "Alliance", including 1 of "No Excuse Activists" *
6 firms with "Second"
6 firms with "Head(s)", including 1 "Lens" and compounds
6 firms with "Clever", including 1 with "Frame", 1 "Transfers"
6 firms with "North", 1 with an "Adriatic Sail" and 1 with a "Watch" *
6 firms with "Wind" *
6 firms with "Wall" *
6 firms with "Water" *
6 firms with "Tree", 1 "Tomorrow", compared to 16 "Drev(o/i)" and 0 with both *
6 firms with "Wedding(s)", including 1 with "Flair" and 1 "for you" **
6 firms with "Square" *
6 firms with "Unit"
6 firms with "Label"
6 firms with "Carrier"
6 firms with "Wheel(s)", 2 "Inner" plus some compounds *
6 firms with "Bang" - only a "big bang" is legal Slovene
6 firms with "Bubble(s)"
6 firms with "Translations", including 1 "Go"
6 firms with "Tourist", compared to 1899 with "Turist" and 1 with both
6 firms with "Hospitality" *
6 firms with "Soul", including 2 "Films", 1 "Horse", 1 "Family" and 1 "Desert" *
6 firms with "Virtual"
6 firms with "Type", "Typo", "Typographic" *
6 firms with "Cake", including "Cake Me Away" and "Piece of" **
6 firms with "Positive"
6 firms with "Yes" *
6 firms with "Prime"
6 firms with "Baby", including 1 "Boss", 1 "Star" and 1 "Event" *
6 firms with "Friend(s)", including 1 "Best"
6 firms with "Speak(er/ing)", including 1 "Up", 1 "Public", 1 "Native Speakerjev" and compounds
6 firms with "Job"
6 firms with "Wise", including 1 "Smart", 1 "Up" *
6 firms with "Ever(y/yday)", including 2 compounds and 1 "Young" ***
6 firms with "Vintage", including 1 "Relay of Youth" ***
6 firms with "Blast/er/ing)"
6 firms with "Insur(e/ance)"
6 firms with "Swiss" and compounds - except "Swissair" *
6 firms with "Add"
6 firms with "Effect(ive/or/s)"
6 firms with "Horizon(s)"
6 firms with "Force"
6 firms with "Drop", including 4 "Shop" and 1 "Shot"
6 firms with "Drink(s)" and compounds
5 firms with "Navigat(or/ion)"
5 firms with "Swing", including 1 "Rockabilly" **
5 firms with "Cherry", including 1 "Monday" **
5 firms with "Excellence", including 1 "Par", 1 "Road" and 1 "Mountain Warfare" **
5 firms with "Earth"
5 firms with "Dynamic" *
5 firms with "Toy(s)" *
5 firms with "Skin"
5 firms with "Clinic", including 1 "Sports" and 1 "Neck"
5 firms with "Gallery" *
5 firms with "Private"
5 firms with "Parking"
5 firms with "Computer", including 1 with "Controls"
5 firms with "Globe", compared to 17 "Globus" and 0 with both
5 firms with "Success"
5 firms with "Empire", including 1 "Explainer" - "Empire State Building" is a legal name though *
5 firms with "High", including 1 "Level"
5 firms with "Ascent"
5 firms with "Technical", including 1 "Assembly" *
5 firms with "Components"
5 firms with "Harmony", including 1 "Spiritual" *
5 firms with "Invent"
5 firms with "Tourism", compared to 2553 with "Turizem" and 1 with both
5 firms with "Memento", including 1 "Image" and 1 "Mori"
5 firms with "Money" and compounds *
5 firms with "Shadow", including 1 "Africa" *
5 firms with "English"
5 firms with "Hot", including 2 "Horse" - "hot line" and "hot dog" are legal
5 firms with "Finish"
5 firms with "Freak", including 2 "Concert", 1 "Chick", 1 "Obsession" and 1 "Freestyle" *
5 firms with "Value"
5 firms with "Change"
5 firms with "Agil(e/ity)" *
5 firms with "Break(dance/s)", including 1 "THElines"
5 firms with "Sugar", including 2 "'N' Weapons" *
5 firms with "Luxury" **
5 firms with "Heat(ing)" and compounds
5 firms with "Tast(e/y)" and compounds *
5 firms with "Clever"
4 firms with "Textile(s)" compared to 367 "Tekstil-" *
4 firms with "Dynamic(s)" *
4 firms with "Forever"
4 firms with "Sourc(e/ing)" and compounds
4 firms with "Platinum"
4 firms with "Hungary" *
4 firms with "Night"
4 firms with "Tiny" *
4 firms with "Sharp", including 1 "See" and compounds
4 firms with "Financial"
4 firms with "Progress"
4 firms with "Architecture"
4 firms with "Copy" *
4 firms with "Camping"
4 firms with "Wash" *
4 firms with "Beer"
4 firms with "Track"
4 firms with "Stage"
4 firms with "Equipment" *
4 firms with "Voice", including 1 "&Vision", 1 "Up" and compounds
4 firms with "Compact", including 1 "Montage"
4 firms with "Shape", including 1 "Up", 1 "Ape" and compounds
4 firms with "Container"
4 firms with "American"
4 firms with "Texas" *
4 firms with "Sell", including 1 "Sell Out"
4 firms with "Day", including 1 "Sunny" **
4 firms with "Interpret"
4 firms with "Hand"
4 firms with "Eagle"
4 firms with "Alert" and compounds
4 firms with "Word(craft/smith/s)", including 1 "Silent" and 1 "Scallywag" ***
4 firms with "News" *
4 firms with "Transform(ation)", including 1 "Lighthouse"
4 firms with "Models"
4 firms with "Suppl(y/ies)" *
4 firms with "Cement"
4 firms with "Aloha"
4 firms with "Cute"
4 firms with "Elephant", including 1 "Notice The"
4 firms with "Independen(t/ce)"
4 firms with "Explore", including a compound *
3 firms with "Guard(ian)", including 1 "Publications", 1 "Body" *
3 firms with "Right", 2 have a "Left" and 1 has a "Thing" - but legal in the case of "all right" since 2001
3 firms with "Reflex" *
3 firms with "Skill" and compounds
3 firms with "Mercury" *
3 firms with "Dress", including 1 "Code" and 1 "For Success"
3 firms with "Kiss", including 1 "Kiss Expo", 1 "Cut Print" and 1 "Of Immortality" **
3 firms with "Materials"
3 firms with "Purple", including 1 "Essence", 1 "Rocket", and 1 "Spot"
3 firms with "Brewing", including 1 "Thirsty River" *
3 firms with "Pretty" *
3 firms with "Fat", including 1 "Cat" and 1 "Rabbit"
3 firms with "Antique(s)" *
3 firms with "Fire"
3 firms with "Sunset"
3 firms with "Flux" *
3 firms with "Composite"
3 firms with "Lake"
3 firms with "Fishing"
3 firms with "String", compared to 1 "Vrvica" and 0 with both
3 firms with "Mining"
3 firms with "Prospects"
3 firms with "Diving"
3 firms with "Server" compounds
3 firms with "Gentleman"
3 firms with "Society" *
3 firms with "Advance"
3 firms with "Eight", including 1 "Eighty Eight" *
3 firms with "Paper", including 1 with "Planes"
3 firms with "Inspiration", including 1 with "Hoteliers"
3 firms with "Knowledge", 1 "Third Millenium" *
3 firms with "Bliss"
3 firms with "Speedy" *
3 firms with "Flight"
3 firms with "Phoenix", however Mr Phoenix and Phoenix, AZ are legal *
3 firms with "Fancy" *
3 firms with "Face", 1 "Frisky" *
3 firms with "Buy" *
3 firms with "Island"
3 firms with "Pets"
3 firms with "Meat"
3 firms with "Two" *
3 firms with "Ball"
3 firms with "Corner"
3 firms with "Install"
3 firms with "Absolute"
3 firms with "Triumph"
3 firms with "Better"
3 firms with "Shift"
3 firms with "Never" and compounds
3 firms with "Language"
3 firms with "Experiment" *
3 firms with "Bolt"
3 firms with "Grape(s)", including 1 "Abduction"
3 firms with "Tutor"
3 firms with "Case", including 1 "Edge" and 1 "Sensitive"
3 firms with "Trace"
3 firms with "Woodworks" **
3 firms with "Guitar(s)"
3 firms with "Quartet" *
3 firms with "Brick(s)", including 1 "Q-Bricks" *
3 firms with "Coworking" *
3 firms with "Respect"
3 firms with "Chip(s)"
3 firms with "Town" *
3 firms with "Blank", including 1 "Frames"
3 firms with "Helix" *
3 firms with "Ready" and compounds *
3 firms with "Zap"
3 firms with "Laborator(y/ies)" *
3 firms with "Bunny", including 1 "Way" ***
3 firms with "Energetic(s)"
3 firms with "Kni(fe/ves)"
3 firms with "Handl(er/ing)"
3 firms with "Beef" and compounds
3 firms with "Yellow" and compounds **
3 firms with "Nut", including 1 "Butter"
3 firms with "XYZ" **
2 firms with "Chat", 1 with "Bubbles"
2 firms with "Camera", compared to 1 with "Fotoaparat-"
2 firms with "Loud", including 1 "and Clear"
2 firms with "Splash"
2 firms with "Swim" *
2 firms with "Actual"
2 firms with "Genius" - only legal if combined with "loci"
2 firms with "Vertical"
2 firms with "Orchid(s)"
2 firms with "Experience" *
2 firms with "Tropical(s)"
2 firms with "Foot"
2 firms with "Complete"
2 firms with "Factoring"
2 firms with "Butterfl(y/ies)", including 1 "Roses", compared to 41 with "Metulj-" *
2 firms with "Shield", including 1 "Circular" and composite
2 firms with "Six" *
2 firms with "Spain"
2 firms with "Traditional"
2 firms with "Argument"
2 firms with "Balloon(s/ing)"
2 firms with "Treatment"
2 firms with "Signature"
2 firms with "Plant"
2 firms with "Detox", 1 for "Business" and 1 for "Life" *
2 firms with "Voodoo", 1 "Doll"
2 firms with "Insane(ly)" *
2 firms with "Monk"
2 firms with "Saving"
2 firms with "Sunshine"
2 firms with "BlueSky" *
2 firms with "Tricky", 1 with "Tribe" *
2 firms with "Skateboard"
2 firms with "Display" *
2 firms with "Interval"
2 firms with "Dirty" *
2 firms with "Carpet"
2 firms with "Aircraft"
2 firms with "Journey" *
2 firms with "Beautique" *
2 firms with "Clip"
2 firms with "Snip", including 1 "Snap"
2 firms with "Analytics", 1 with "Blood" *
2 firms with "Goal"
2 firms with "Ratio", including 1 "Golden"
2 firms with "Mission"
2 firms with "Thrive"
2 firms with "Pharmaceuticals"
2 firms with "Repair", 1 is "International"
2 firms with "British" (The British Council, British American Tobacco) - it's legal to call yourself "British Museum"
2 firms with "Flower", including 1 with "Spice" *
2 firms with "Border"
2 firms with "Need"
2 firms with "Snack(s)"
2 firms with "Assurance(s)"
2 firms with "Jewel(l/ery)", compared to 122 with "Nakit-" and 5 with both
2 firms with "Fortune"
2 firms with "Circle", 1 "Flat"
2 firms with "Wisdom" *
2 firms with "Discover(ing/ies)"
2 firms with "Slow" *
2 firms with "Boat"
2 firms with "Reporter"
2 firms with "Collection"
2 firms with "Olympia", compared to 43 with "Olimpija" and 0 with both *
2 firms with "Scent(ed)"
2 firms wiith "Liquid", including 1 with "Vitamins" *
2 firms with "Pony", including 1 "Express Mile" **
2 firms with "Impress(ions/ed)", including 1 "Be"
2 firms with "Variant"
2 firms with "Corn"
2 firms with "Saving"
2 firms with "Input"
2 firms with "Chain", including 1 with "Effect"
2 firms with "Forge"
2 firms with "Symphony" and compounds **
2 firms with "The End"
1 firm with "Apple", compared to 7 "Jabolk-" and 0 with both
1 firm with "Inspire"
1 firm with "Last Great Riders"
1 firm with "Agile People"
1 firm with "Low Carb" *
1 firm with "Seaman's"
1 firm with "Apparel"
1 firm with "Fitter"
1 firm with "Venice"
1 firm with "Instrumental"
1 firm with "Approved"
1 firm with "Approach"
1 firm with "Poke"
1 firm with "Uranus"
1 firm with "Concrete"
1 firm with "Exit" *
1 firm with "Defense"
1 firm with "Germany" *
1 firm with "Derbyshire" *
1 firm with "Integrated"
1 firm with "Analysis" *
1 firm with "Charged"
1 firm with "Discomix" *
1 firm with "Synergist" *
1 firm with "Distant"
1 firm with "Site Survey" *
1 firm with "Legit"
1 firm with "Organisation" - only "Central Selling Organisation" is a legal business name
1 firm with "Pragmatic"
1 firm with "Popular"
1 firm with "Teaching"
1 firm with "Cricket"
1 firm with "Maximum" *
1 firm with "Vending"
1 firm with "Evil"
1 firm with "Credit"
1 firm with "Que Pasa" *
1 firm with "Ranch"
1 firm with "Sew" *
1 firm with "Renew by" **
1 firm with "Witch" *
1 firm with "Optical"
1 firm with "Rational"
1 firm with "Method", including 1 "Healthy" *
1 firm with "Wet Noses" *
1 firm with "Ways" **
1 firm with "Teddy Beer" (sic) *
1 firm with "Tunnel"
1 "Covertunnel"
1 "Hexagon Metrology" **
1 "Infinite Exhibition Stand" *
1 "Pendulum Stream"
1 "Underground Barber"
1 "No Problem 2017"
1 "Pixlemon" *
1 "Rat Path"
1 "MakeSomeSweets" *
1 "Wire" *
1 "Yappr" *
1 "Graph"
1 "Pi Factorial"
1 "Wipey" **
1 "Summer"
1 "Beadhabit"
1 "Outfit"
1 "Destination"
1 "Wanted" *
1 "U Wish" *
1 "Visit Goodplace"
1 "Relate"
1 "Advice"
1 "Assist"
1 "Expedition Story" **
1 "Conscious Me"
1 "VisitVibe"
1 "Linking Map"
1 "Shabby House" *
1 "Press Clipping"
1 "Sparks"
1 "Cold Store"
1 "Twinkle" *
1 "YOUnique Pigeon" **
1 "Damn Shop"
1 "MeasuresHub"
1 "Fart" - now legal as it is in the latest Pravopis, but see entry
1 "Air Ventilation"
1 "Pro-Dusty" *
1 "Spider"
1 "Boo"
1 "Falcon"
1 "Permanent"
1 "Boo-Boo"
1 "Result"
1 "Pricepilot"
1 "Speak-a-Boo"
1 "Calculate"
1 "A Cure For Happiness"
1 "Alley Cats" *
1 "SurvEye" *
1 "Monkey Dojo" *
1 "Coordi-Europe"
1 "Frontier"
1 "Euroing Residential"
1 "Mansion"
1 "Check In"
1 "Number 10"
1 "Incrediscope"
1 "Keep Believing"
1 "NoWorries" *
1 "Big Daddy Restaurants" *
1 "Waiter Society" **
1 "Ice Cream"
1 "Chopstick"
1 "Whale Tail" *
1 "Fried Egg Jellyfish" *
1 "Apparatus"
1 "Spoonplus"
1 "Pancake"
1 "Chipy" *
1 "Dolly" *
1 "Table42"
1 "ThunderQ" *
1 "Turn On Laser"
1 "Seascape"
1 "Seastone"
1 "Cocktail"
1 "Pardon"
1 "Interaccount"
1 "Metering"
1 "ForensicLab"
1 "Journal"
1 "Clicky Climbers" *
1 "Uplifted Stance"
1 "Compacting"
1 "Flint"
1 "Manpower" *
1 "Seem"
1 "Hash"
1 "Hear Here"
1 "Optimizers"
1 "Trumpet"
1 "Bent Excellent" *
1 "Mr Van"
1 "Restart"
1 "Restate"
1 "Serious"
1 "Know-How" **
1 "Hair Affair"
1 "Plastermont"
1 "Sight & Sound"
1 "Slavic Affairs"
1 "Yally" **
1 "DrawingArt" *
1 "Art Bread"
1 "Fast Feet"
1 "Heal"
1 "Looks"
1 "Forward" *
1 "Peach Booty Plan" *
1 "Large"
1 "Arse"
1 "Boob"
1 "Booby" *
1 "MeetPoint"
1 "Gas Vessel Production"
1 "Learn Vats"
1 "Aerial Circus"
1 "Stuntman"
1 "Disable Gym" *
1 "The H"
1 "3Way" **
1 "42Ward" *
1 "Natural Aufguss - Reflexion of Nature" *
1 "Air-Condition"
1 "Existential Emoji" *
1 "While True" *
1 "Reality", compared to 1 "Resničnost" *
1 "Pride Wear" *
1 "Busy Brush" *
1 "Hair Culture"
1 "Clear Round"
1 "Defender"
1 "Outclimb"
1 "3Dimension"
1 "Outline"
1 "WeDevelop" *
1 "Outreach"
1 "Afterdawn" *
1 "Outsmartify" *
1 "Incognito"
1 "Less"
1 "Teenyoga" *
1 "Outsource"
1 "In-Sight"
1 "Merry" *
1 "Sun Rise"
1 "Roundabout"
1 "The Outsiders"
1 "Blazing"
1 "Outset"
1 "Rise & Shine"
1 "Pixel Pie" *
1 "Axis" *
1 "Entity" *
1 "Quaff" *
1 "Twenty Five Seven" *
1 "Later"
1 "In Bed With" *
1 "Cup Of Tea"
1 "Outside The Box" *
1 "European University Sports Association" *
1 "Hellenic Bottling Company" *
1 "Fractal Labs"
1 "Agriculture"
1 "Hungry Lola" *
1 "Aware" *
1 "Individual"
1 "Pig"
1 "Mouse"
1 "Wipeout" *
1 "Useless Theory" *

Source: [44]
Collected using "Firma ali skrajšana firma" only
June 2022

As regards Slovene tuition, there is no "tuition", and there are 0 firms containing the word "Slovene", compared to 8 with "Slovenščin-" in their business name: 7 claim to be language teachers.

But from the advertising/internet search perspective, have they really thought this one out?

Just seven (1.08%) of Slovenia's language firms use the English word "language" to identify themselves, while 637 out of 639 use "jezik-" and 2 use both. No firm calls itself a "language school". Three call themselves a "tutor". Five entities mention "Education" but none of these are language teaching.

They are apparently quite sure their potential clients - perhaps still contemplating their invasion of Slovenia from afar - are really looking for the 121 firms offering "instrukcij-" or "poučevanj-".

Or somewhat more probably, firms offering "instruction", or "lessons"? Of which there were zero. Alone among the teachers, "TEaching Autogenic Training" - which with its weird capital may be trying to avoid looking English, perhaps hopes to deal with aching, or spell TEAT.

And why are the only four entities offering "class(es)" of any kind TV repairmen, an "A-Class" sports society, and a "Class Car Rentals" and not, given the opportunity of enthusiastically reaching out to the foreigner in his own tongue, actual Slovene classes?

Does it seem like the Slovene teachers want their potential customers to notice them at all, or that they are trying to avoid them?

Is there some trauma, putting them off telling us about all this interesting secret language stuff? Is this why foreign visitors to sites such as [89] have to rely on browser translations?

Is it something they will only attempt if nothing else is available workwise? Or is Slovenia just chronically introverted?

The Complainant asked two translators about the firm's Slovene-teaching experiences. They don't do it any more. Why not? It was too hard. Translation and interpreting is a much easier dollar.

All the pupils started out bright-eyed and enthusiastic, but gave up after a few hours.

It was soul-destroying confronting this failure over and over. Both agreed teaching Slovene was the worst job in the world.

NSMTs might assume anyone clever enough to teach Slovene must be clever enough to know the applicant for a course to Level A1 isn't going to understand a leaflet about language courses in Slovene. [96]

In fact the Slovene classes in Slovene leaflet is not a joke. The teachers would object to the quick conclusion that they are incredibly dumb.

The Complainant therefore asserts that the non-translation is not a momentary oversight, nor a systemic accident, nor incredibly dumb, but rather the manufacture of The Sixty Euro Problem on an industrial scale.

The outcome of this clumsy interface suits the Slovenians and what they want, because:

- when it comes to foreigners, a thousand translations are better than one - for Slovenians improving the foreign language, e.g. English

- some money transactions might be created by translation during the attempt to apply

- volunteers of varying degrees of helpfulness help each foreigner translate each leaflet, damping down any group perception of entitlement or standardisation.

- hours of time are created where foreigners have to sit in bars, and where the transfer of free educative value will align around the Sixty Euro Problem.

- local lowlife can find out when you're out, by listening in, or from drunk gossip

- the obstacles and dependency created for foreigners are maximized, harming their interests

- keeps an eye on those foreign types known for their troublemaking ways

- after your big meeting and night out to discuss the leafet, your actual speaking of Slovene can be postponed until next time

- the volunteer helper is not responsible for any misunderstandings, such as "the course doesn't really exist"

- to prove that a professional translator messed it up, and that you were materially damaged, you would need another translator.

The relative pro- and anti- indicators for each of four scenarios are presented.

Despite some entitlement being a fact of The Law, all such conveyances in Slovenia have to be conducted as if you are on your knees receiving the Eucharist. It's not their fault if you didn't know to tell them what they are meant to do. At the bureaucratic interface, poor Slovene and shrugging embrace in a symbiotic uselessness.

The multiplication of the Complainant's problems began and remains located between the attempt to acquire the language itself, and Slovenia's determination to prevent everything with windy jobs-in-the-middle for everyone...but a non-existent result, and no survival mechanism for him.

 For sure the foreigner and his Slovene helper will feel let down when, for example, a Slovene class turns out not to exist for a particular type of foreigner, although the law says nothing about why this should be so.

Let down like [79] and the Complainant. But the contentment of apparatchiks is apparently expendable in the battle to protect the language from being found out about.

On the plus side, and without prejudging any legal outcomes, Slovenia's freedom government will be able to collect millions in fines from these often repeat offenders. Just 25 big hits and Slovenia will have earned a cool million euros from its anti-foreignness law.

The only fly in the ointment is the part of the law that says a business shall be registered with AJPES if it complies with the dual language conditions, making all of Slovenia's illegal business names the fault of no one but the registering officials - which is impossible.

But whose fault it was doesn't make the names any more or less legal. Businesses angry at the not-Slovenian-enough names they have been allowed to register and use, with all the expense of websites, signage, stationery, trademarks and goodwill lost, might be able to sue AJPES or its agents for placing them in this illegal position - by ignoring its own applicable legislation on an industrial scale.

If the government wins the legal argument and collects the fines, the Complainant hopes this will compensate Slovenia for all the tax he has been prohibited from paying by the ZJRS, and its administrative practices.

These foreign words threaten what Slovenia is, the rock upon which the nation is founded, namely a language foreigners don't get to learn from the only people who speak it.

The Complainant believes the business space is richer for the freedom to use any language in a fun or thought-provoking way, alongside the usual corporate cliches. The duration of his claim will conclude with the repeal of ZJRS 14, 17 and 32.

The Complainant has not been, nor would be, fazed by a Slovenian-run firm in England with a Slovenian name. What would you call your steakhouse? steOK? It's next to the German laundrette: Ein, Zwei, Dry, her French husband's plumbing shop M'Sewer Loo-La-La, and Ali the Barber.

That Slovenians enjoy English and can have fun with it too is of course part of their freedom of expression. If other Slovenians are offended by it they can go and shop at Rit instead.

Slovenia having actually legislated against such merriment as independent business allows is simultaneously the funniest and saddest European story.

Particularly egregious, if you believe anyone could be so utterly paranoid and fun-hating to actually have laws controlling foreign words, are the examples which take the empirically indefensible leap of using letters absent from the Slovenian Alphabet entirely: Q, W, X, and Y.

Hanging around with these bad characters, whose each occurrence is marked with a * in the list, arguably guarantees that anti-Slovenian treachery is afoot.

Do not worry. Nothing drastic is going to happen to these firms just because a foreigner says so.

Especially a foreigner. As Marko Snoj explains:

"Če je dejavnost opisana kot interior design, če na trgovini piše npr. Come In WE ARE OPEN, če izložbo krasi modra misel A healthy outside starts from the inside, ali če ROCCO Night Club oglaša LESBO SHOW, to morda res zlahka razume večina slovenskih potrošnikov, a ker ni tega nihče empirično preveril, je trditev arbitrarna, posledično vprašljiva, zato je vprašljiva tudi skladnost z zakonom teh in takih predstavitev dejavnosti." [61]

Snoj - who I suspect instantly abandons all hope of communicating in Slovene when he meets an Anglophone - "inspected the visual linguistic landscape of Nazorjeva ulica, a street in the centre of Ljubljana. The result of the sample inspection shows that among 107 linguistic signs of that particular public space, at least 31% are not written in Slovene."

He refers to another wordy plan for the upholding of the language landscape, which was examined in a questionnaire, leading to the discovery that 96% of the respondents thought there was too much non-Slovenian-ness going on. Inclusion of the language landscape in the survey was

"due to frequent complaints regarding the non-Slovenianness of public inscriptions by language users." [58]

Indeed it seems improbable that Ahačič et al will be satisfied with anything less than 100% racial purity in the linguistic landscape, one in which the Law has proved a reckless groundskeeper, and a blunt instrument more Turneresque than Capability Brown, apart from the ha-ha. [62]

But neither their lengthy charter of aims nor their elaborately legislated committee activities reveal where the Complainant's language lessons went.

Article 17 is a paper tiger, with let-outs in Article 18 and 34(2). If all the above Anglophone constructions are common enough international parlance to escape restriction (and I had to look up a couple of them) Slovenia's English is pretty damned impressive.

But for whom then, if not these firms, is ZJRS 17 intended?

The answer is: anyone someone doesn't like.

Just as Slovenia's statistics are for counting things that Slovenia can use to make itself look good, which less than life-and-death laws apply depend upon dislike or hatred for the victim.

In the resulting snoopfest, everything the enemy of the people owns or does becomes an outrage overnight, and you will be hounded by "citizen jealonists" making shrill appeals to the parking rule of law. In Slovenia the line between chaff-deploying political journalism and upholding civilisation is represented in the form of a snitching match.

Theological in origin but thoroughbred in Yugotopia, Slovenia's national bird is the tell-tale-tit [98]. To make it "fair", everyone gets caught for something, somehow devaluing the whole idea - so it's back to the original sin, atonement-unto-God-alone, and indulgences for sale, in these superstitious, anti-difference, and anti-Lutheran parts [80]. A large part of "justice" is led by revenue, plunder, and spite - not by morality, equal accountability, or equality of arms. Slovenia's interpreters are relentlessly pro-Slovenian, leading to an interesting effect.

Suppose Mr Novak wants to sell more trainers. There are are simply no more savings, no more customers, nothing more in the valley to be had. By analysing his rivals' language crimes he can simply snitch on their bad language and let the system do the rest.

Mr Novak's defenceless competitor Miss Goody-Two-Shoes will at the very least be diverted from profitable activities, and according to this Slovenian economic model, any negative consequences to her benefit Mr Novak.

Publicity will ensure her clientele are alerted to her shameful anti-Slovenian beliefs, and express their outrage by buying Mr Novak's inferior trainers, which have been touched by black people.
 

Rule of Law? Even if it wasn't sport - which is Teflon-like to criminality - none of these firms will meet with a crippling financial intervention unless some faction or other wants it to.

And why should anything happen to anyone for this? Despite providing the legal framework the Ministry of Culture and the public agree is the best compromise, the ZJRS has gotten Slovenia two things: confused and nowhere.

Because what someone calls their firm is literally nobody else's business. It is political jobsworth gone mad, encouraging a societal snitch-fest.

Besides political enemies, are foreigners a priority when it comes to whose illegality Slovenia gets excited about?

When "Österreichische Post entered the Slovenian market at the beginning of July [2022] and established the subsidiary company Express One Slovenia for this purpose" [95] the Market Inspector was off like a rocket by the start of August. The registered name is Express Post SI, but "Slovenija/Slovenia" are special words requiring permission.

Slovenia cannot allow its citizens to believe that letters are being successfully delivered by Slovenia, even if the employees and vehicles are all Slovenian registered. Importantly for the selection of this economic target, our friends in the north Österreichische Post can afford the fine.

For sure, the other 476 registered entities trying to live off Slovenia or Slovenija's good reputation - from the European Commission Representation in the Republic of Slovenia, to the Motoristični klub Blue Knights Slovenia I - all asked for and received the go-ahead from AJPES, and will remain undisturbed even if they didn't.

While being offended by foreigners speaking other languages is different to being offended by foreign signs and foreign business names, the purpose of the foregoing is not to challenge the already failed attempt of Article 17 to put some kind of fence around language, but to put ZJRS 14 into context.

If Slovenia understands all these words, why then does it need an Article 14, except to discriminate on a superficially rational, but actually very divisive and prejudicial basis? With, due to teacher/pupil ratios, the Sixty Euro Problem, and a general apathy or non-performance of the avowed aims of Article 13 or the language institute, no hope of a solution.

In the wider legal context this excursion into reality shows that people pay no attention to laws which are plainly stupid, or unfairly disadvantageous to them.
 
But where there is jealousy, rivalry, racism or other prejudice present, a dangerous situation is created by too many extra laws, on Slovenian-ness among other topics.

In which, using the overreach and pedanticism of the authority, the worst temperaments of the mob can be leveraged against individuals who are simply being themselves, using the bad law and a victimless "crime" as an excuse.

Intrinsically divisive laws find their target in those who want their neighbour's cow to die. Just because.

If you want to foment racism don't try to dress it up in intellectual frippery. Be like my neighbour and just come right out and say it.