Sqound

Sqound (pronounced skwu-kuhl)

An object in the shape of a square with rounded corners.

1990s: The word was coined by a person or persons unknown to distinguish between the (round) taillights used on (most) C4 Chevrolet Corvettes between 1983-1989 and those built subsequently (1990-1996), the construct being sq(uare) + (r)ound).  Square was from the Middle English square, sqware & squyre, from the Old French esquarre & esquerre, (which endures in modern French as équerre), from the Vulgar Latin exquadra, the construct being ex- (the prefix used as an intensive) +‎ quadro (four cornered; make square), from quadrus (square).  It displaced fēowerecge (four-edged).  Round was from the Middle English round & rounde, from the Old Northern French roünt & rund & the Old French ront, runt & reont (which endures in modern French as rond), from the Late Latin retundus & the Classical Latin rotundus.  The noun developed partly from the adjective and partly from the corresponding French noun rond.  Sqound is a noun & adjective; the noun plural is sounds.

1993 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1.

Perhaps the ultimate “niche word”, the only known use is among members of the “C4 ‘Vette cult” (those devoted to the fourth series (C4) Chevrolet Corvette, 1984-1996).  It seems first to have been used as an adjective to describe the then unique taillights fitted to the Corvette ZR1 (1990-1995), released at the 1989 Geneva Motor Show.  Although an obvious visual clue, the ZR1 attracted most attention by its use of an all-aluminium, 350 cubic inch (5.7 litre; LT5) V8 which featured double overhead camshafts (DOHC) and 32 valve heads.  Although the 350 cubic inch displacement was shared with the mainstream small-block Chevrolet V8s, so different was it in terms of construction and internal dimensions that the Corvette community (a priesthood with very firm views) regard it as something separate from the long-running (1954-2003 in production vehicles but still available as a "crate engine") small-block V8 family.  The engine was a co-development between Chevrolet and the UK-based Lotus Group which General Motors (GM, Chevrolet’s parent corporation) had acquired in 1986 (maintaining ownership until 1993) and was intended for use in a Corvette which could be marketed as the “world's fastest production car” (GM defining what constituted “production”); the V8 was given the internal designation LT5.  Although in the mid-1980s electronic engine management systems were still in their infancy, the LT5 did feature some genuine innovations in its fuel management, enabling the combustion chamber design to be optimized for power without this imposing the usual compromises in drivability at lower speeds.  Assembly of the (relatively) low-volume LT5 was sub-contracted to Mercury Marine which had long experience of the materials used in the construction.

LT5 V8 in 1990 (believed built in 1989) Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, one of 25 GM R&D (research & development) prototypes built to test the active-suspension system.

Perhaps of greater significance to GM was the expertise Lotus possessed in chassis design & tuning although the Corvette was a very different machine to the smaller, lighter cars with which Lotus had built their reputation, encapsulated by the philosophy of company founder Colin Chapman (1928–1982): “Simplify, then add lightness”.  Historically, that idea was most “un-Corvette” like and despite the aluminium engine block and heads, the ZR1 did emerge from development weighing some 200 lb (91 kg) more than the typical C4 Corvette, the additional heft the consequence of weightier components needed to support the greater speed and lateral forces made possible by the additional power and cornering capability.  On the road, the Lotus influence was certainly felt, the ZR1’s limits of adhesion as impressive as the then impressively wide (315-35 x 17 inch) tyres would suggest.  Befitting its role, the ZR1 was offered only as a coupé with a removable roof panel (no convertibles were produced) and as well as the wider wheels, it was distinguished from the rest of the range by a widened tail section with a convex rear fascia housing four “squond” taillights, the first time since the 1961 models anything but four round units had appeared on a production Corvette.

1987 Chevrolet Corvette with the round taillights used between 1984-1990 (left) and 1993 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 with sqounds.

The ZR1 was much admired although not all approved of the squonds.  However, Chevrolet’s stylists must have liked them because in 1990 the convex fascia and squonds were standardized across the range, presumably pleasing the accountants who probably never saw the point of producing two different moldings which fulfilled the same function.  Why the C4 cultists settled on “sqound” isn’t known but it’s likely to have been something which just “came to someone” searching for a word to describe a shape which was neither quite round or square; within the cult there is (as far as in known), no “linguistics & etymology” committee.  In 1990, there was no world wide web and the internet was almost unknown outside of universities and places like the Pentagon so it wasn’t as if Google was there to answer the question.  Had search engines been available, it’s likely sqound might never have been coined because the word “quartic” quickly (as least as quickly as a 2400 kbit/s modem on a dial-up connection permitted) would have been unearthed.

1960 Plymouth Fury four-door hardtop (left), 1974 Austin Allegro 1750 Sport Special (centre) and 2024 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 coupé (right).

Once a technical term in the arcane world of algebra and thus known to only a few, "quartic" first gained a larger audience in 1973 when, to general derision, British Leyland (BL) released the Austin Allegro, complete with a steering wheel which was “not quite round and not quite square".  Explaining it was chosen to afford the diver greater leg-room and provide a better view of the instruments, BL revealed the shape was “quartic”.  The idea actually wasn’t novel, dating back decades and had been used on quite a few American cars during the early 1960s but for whatever reasons, the presence of one in the Allegro attracted little but criticism, something the rest of the vehicle would soon suffer.  BL also attracted the scorn of mathematicians who hastened to point out a quartic is “an algebraic equation or function of the fourth degree or a curve describing such an equation or function” insisting the correct description for a "square with rounded corners" is “squircle” (in algebraic geometry "a closed quartic curve having properties intermediate between those of a square and a circle"), the construct being squ(are) +c(ircle).  Few etymologists (and certainly no lexicographers) appear to have listed sqound as a "real" word but it's of interest because as a rare example in English of a word where a "q" is not followed by a "u"; such constructs do exist but usually in the cases where initialisms have become acronyms such as Qantas (Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services).  Such words do appear in English language texts but they tend to be foreign borrowings including (1) qat (or khat) (a plant native to East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, often chewed for its stimulant effects), (2) qi (a term from Chinese philosophy referring to life force or energy), qibla (the direction Muslims face when praying (towards the Kaaba in Mecca)) and (4) qiviut (the soft under-wool of the musk-ox, valued when making warm clothing).  For a while, BL pretended to ignore the geometry pedants but within a year replaced the wheel with a conventional circular design.  Whatever the name, variations of the shape have since become popular with high-end manufacturers, Ferrari, Aston-Martin, Lamborghini and others all pursuing non-circular themes and one is a feature of the latest (C8) mid-engined Chevrolet Corvette, in which, unlike the unfortunate Allegro, it's much admired.

The antipodean Edsel: 1973 Leyland P76 Super V8 (left) and 1974 Leyland Force 7V (right).  Only 10 of the prototype Force 7V coupés survived the crusher but although it offered the novelty of a hatchback, the styling was ungainly and the very market segment for which it was intended was close to extinction.  Even had the range survived beyond 1974, success would have been improbable although the company should be commended for having intended to name the luxury version the Tour de Force (from the French and translated literally as "feat of strength"), the irony, in retrospect, charming.     

Although 1973 was the last “good year” for the “old” UK economy and one during which British Leyland was looking to the future with some optimism, the corporation’s troubles that year with steering wheels were, in retrospect, a harbinger for what lay ahead.  In addition to the Allegro, also introduced in 1973, on the other side of the planet, was the P76, a large (then a “compact” in US terms) sedan which Leyland Australia hoped would be competitive with the then dominant trio, GMH’s (General Motors Holden) Holden, Ford’s Falcon and Chrysler’s Valiant, the previous attempts using modified variants of UK models less than successful.  Leyland at the time kept expectations low, claiming the target was nothing more than a 10% market share and the initial reception the P76 received suggested this might more than be realized, the consensus of press reports concluding the thing was in many aspects at least as good as the opposition and in some ways superior, the country’s leading automotive that year awarding the V8 version the coveted COTY (Car of the Year) trophy.  Unfortunately, the circumstances of 26 June 1973 when the P76 was launched didn’t last, the first oil crisis beginning some four months later which resulted in a spike in the price of oil which not only suddenly dampened demand for larger cars but also triggered what was then the most severe and longest-lasting recession of the post-war years.  Basic design flaws in the body engineering and indifferent quality control contributed to the debacle which is now remembered as the Australian industry’s Edsel and in October 1974 production of the P76 ended and Leyland closed its Australian manufacturing facilities, never to re-open.

1973 P76 with the original sharp-edged steering wheel (left) and the later version, designed for the Force 7 (right).  The P76's steering wheel was one of many flaws which were planned to be rectified (or at least ameliorated) in the "facelifted" version scheduled for 1975 but before the end of 1974 the decision had been taken in London to axe the entire Leyland Australia project.    

Given the geo-political situation, rampant inflation and troubled industrial relations of the time, the P76’s steering wheel is really just a footnote in the sad tale but, like the Allegro’s “quartic” venture it was emblematic of the self-inflicted injuries to which Leyland would subject itself, both in the UK and its antipodean offshoot.  When the P76 made its debut in 1976, there was some comment that the steering wheel’s boss had a horn-pad in the shape of a boomerang, emphasizing the Australian connection but what was criticized was the rim which had bizarre, concave cross-section, meaning a quite sharp edge faced the driver, leaving an impression on the palms of the hands after only a few minutes driving.  The industry legend is the shape was a consequence of the typist (in 1973 it was accepted practice to blame women whenever possible) who prepared the final specification-sheet having mixed up “concave” & “convex” but even if that’s true it’s remarkable the obvious flaw in the design wasn’t rectified at the prototype stage.  Some have doubted the veracity of the story but such things do happen.  On 23 September, 1999, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) lost the US$125 million Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft after its 286-day journey to Mars and that was a time when US$125 million was still a lot of money.  There was of course the inevitable review which found the craft’s directional thrusters had, over the course of several months, been incorrectly fired because the control data had been calculated in incorrect units.  The contractor Lockheed Martin (responsible for the calculations) was sending data in Imperial measures (pounds) to NASA, while NASA's navigation team, expecting metric units, interpreted the numbers as Newtons).  As far as is known, neither the contractor nor the agency attempted to blame a typist.

Picture of Lindsay Lohan in sqound frame (frame by Hanna Zasimova) (left) and sqound headlight surrounds on 1971 VG Chrysler Valiant VIP (right).  Passing usually unnoticed, sqounds are all around us although the mathematicians insists the shape is neither a sqound nor a quartic but a squircle.