ljorka (laser)

1) LEYSIR: This neologism is a lousy attempt to ape the sound of the Anglo-Saxon acronym LASER, which hasn't even remotely anything semanticly in common with the Icelandic verb "að leysa".
2) LJÖRVI: is the other alternative which unfortunately hasn't gained acceptance with the wider public. It is based on the acronym laser: Light (LJós) Amplification by Stimulated (að ÖRVa) Emission of Radiation. It's still somewhat a loan-translation of two words in the acronym (light and stimulate), but qualitatively superior to the 'lélegur leysir', which sounds too uninternational, too little eccentricly icelandic. The problem with ljörvi, but this can as well be said of leysir, is that the connection with the word ljós is lost, where in neologisms like tölva, the connection with töl- and völva is retained.
3) LJORKA: This is really my final attempt. The short o in ljorka is not the same sound as ó in ljós but still more closely than the ö in ljörvi. I hope the connection with both ljós and orka is retained. Another good thing is that the word isn't by any means tributary to the idea behind the word laser. Yes, ljós is used as the first element in a name for the device, but this is so obvious a choice. The vast majority of neologists would come up with light as the first element when having to coin a name for the device, so this can hardly be considered no loan-translation. the second element orka just refers to the power of the beam and don't occur in the English acronym. For that reason, the only connection between LJORKA and LASER is the acronymic nature of both words. If that's too unpuristic, I'm glad to be a loan-word lover!

But, of course, the "market" still have to kind-a-like this word.

Note: It is even possible to call a boy after a "laser beam": Ljósgeir (Sound a bit like Ásgeir; Ljós- is a first element in Icelandic personal names: Ljósbjörg, Ljósbjört, Ljósborg and Ljósbrá, Ljósálfur)