"Tapecorder" misspelling?

[anytune]

The editor in me cringes a bit every time I glance at the head cover of my Sony TC-377 RtR. It clearly reads Three Head Stereo Tapecorder, not Tape Recorder or Taperecorder. I have noticed this on other Sony decks of the same era. Was this apparent misspelling in fact a deliberate play on words, creating a new term by conjoining "tape" and "recorder"? Just wondering if anyone knows the story behind it.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Deliberate play on words. See also Sony Cassette-Corder, the later version. A Sony tradition going back to the late 1950's.

 

[Naptown Rob]

I think you think too much.

 

[anytune]

Yeah, I figured it was an attempt to coin a term, but it didn't really catch on. Anyone know where the term tape "deck" originated?

 

[audiojones]

Yeah, Sony used that term for all of the lower model single motor idler drive open reel machines, from the little 3" reel models on up. When it came to the better belt drive 3 motor machines and the big 10" models they dropped the "Tapecorder" moniker.

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Typical Sony goofiness.

 

[Wilhem]

It's often a legalistic way to create a word than can be registered and later copyrighted. Early in the life of television, spelling it as "TeleVision" might have passed as a copyrighted word that no other company could use. That's why one sees such intentional misspellings and odd compounds such as "Lite" beer, "MultiSegment," "OpenView," and so forth.

 

[Dwartz]

Akai used Terecorder for awhile, and given the US stereotype of Japanese pronunciation or R's and L's, that always seemed unfortunate to me.

 

[Sam Cogley]

It's just a brand name they put on the lower-end decks.