Businesses with names which sound like puns, but aren't

[John DiFool]

This is one of those thread ideas that I usually come up with while laying in bed and, naturally, always end up forgetting about when I actually come here-but a similar thread finally got me to remember.

For example: Wachovia Bank, as in, "(we) Watch ova ya", which I guess would work better if they sold insurance.

When I was younger, I thought Subaru was a play on "Super Rude", as in motorcycles which are as badass as they come.

Seems like I have always had a habit of looking for the hidden subtext, trying to break the secret code, and so on...

[audiobottle]

I thought Wachovia was pronounced "Wah-ko-vee-ya", which would be more like "(We) walk over ya'." I suppose in recent years, that might be more applicable to banks.

[Bosstone]

Yeah, it's definitely a K in Wakovia.

[SciFiSam]

Schindler's Lifts. They were around long before the movie.

[postcards]

Originally Posted by SciFiSam

Schindler's Lifts. They were around long before the movie.

Yes, but they don't actually call themselves that. (As an aside, I used to work across the street from one of their offices. It was situated in a one-story building.)

[Sam A. Robrin]

Chinese names often lend themselves to puns in English. I knew a restaurant in NY called "Foo King," and a grocery named "Poo Ping," and there was a "Hong Kee's" in San Francisco.
Come to think of it, there was an Italian deli in my Brooklyn neighborhood named "Punzone Heroes"--and I always meant to get a photo of myself in front of it, as I sure qualify!

[gatorslap]

Fry's Electronics. Nobody fries their electronics on purpose.

[Thudlow Boink]

We used to have a drug store in town called IDEAL DRUGS.

[postcards]

Originally Posted by Sam A. Robrin

...I knew a restaurant in NY called "Foo King,"...

'Twas in the Bronx.


On Westchester Avenue.

[Uber_the_Goober]

A previous employer of mine: Recycling Equipment Corporation. All their logos were abbreviated REC. Everyone I knew who ever mentioned the company by name pronounced it "wreck". Considering we were in the business of selling and repairing equipment...it seemed apropos to the quality of the work customers actually got.

[RadicalPi]

Here we have a bank called the Rabobank. It's pronounced rob-a-bank.

[Johnny L.A.]

Nicewonger
House of Hose
Assman Electronics

[Sam A. Robrin]

Originally Posted by postcards

'Twas in the Bronx.


On Westchester Avenue.

This was some years back, but it was in Manhattan. Just what New York needs: Another Foo King Chinese restaurant!

[SciFiSam]

Originally Posted by postcards

Yes, but they don't actually call themselves that. (As an aside, I used to work across the street from one of their offices. It was situated in a one-story building.)

No, they call themselves Schindler Lifts, which is still an accidental pun. about the building.

[Shalmanese]

www.expertsexchange.com

[Ludovic]

Originally Posted by postcards

'Twas in the Bronx.

I misread that as an entry to this thread. I.e. sounding like a pun on "Twats in the Bronx"

[campp]

Benrich Jewelery.

Yeah, I was rich, but then I went and bought some jewelry.

[campp]

Dune Drugs.

Um, where is the spice?

[SciFiSam]

Originally Posted by Shalmanese

www.expertsexchange.com

Similar to therapists.com and penisland.com and the famous powergenitalia.

(Cite).

[Soliloquy]

The Doggy Style Pet Salon is one of my favorite business names. There was an audible burglar alarm there, once. At my last job (dispatching for the department I work for now), we voice those over the radio, but we don't necessarily voice the business name. I did. Several times.

[brewha]

A friend of mine grew up close to the East Chicago Package Liquor.

[Ellen Cherry]

Originally Posted by brewha

A friend of mine grew up close to the East Chicago Package Liquor.

What am I missing?

[Johnny L.A.]

Originally Posted by Ellen Cherry

What am I missing?

That one took me a beat. 'Package licker'. 'Package' being a term for the penis, or penis and scrotum.

ETA: I saw a place in Munich called Peter Palmer.



.

[Ellen Cherry]

Hm, I've seen signs for package liquor stores my whole life! But, yeah, *snort* I guess.

[Hari Seldon]

There was reputed to be a laundry called Mee Hung Lo.

[Pixel_Dent]

In Buffalo, NY there's Amigone Funeral Home. As kids we always imagined a corpse sitting up asking, "Am I gone?"

[Johnny L.A.]

Originally Posted by Pixel_Dent

In Buffalo, NY there's Amigone Funeral Home. As kids we always imagined a corpse sitting up asking, "Am I gone?"

'If you can ask...'

[elmwood]

When I lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico, there was a local gas station chain called "Bar-F Gasoline". Nobody in town saw it as "barf"; they all read the name as a cattle brand.

In Buffalo, Italians don't see what the big deal is about Amigone Funeral Home. "Yeah, I guess you could look at it that way, but it's stupid."

[Ludovic]

There was a natural gas vendor in Sarasota (or coulda been more widespread) called People's Gas. I didn't notice anything at all until someone said "hey, isn't that a funny name?" I replied "yeah, I guess when you think about it, it does sound sorta Communistic." I didn't get the flatulence reference at all. And neither did the founders of the company apparently.

[Mikemike2]

I always though "Shoe Source" was strange as in "shoe sores."

[jsgoddess]

Originally Posted by Pixel_Dent

In Buffalo, NY there's Amigone Funeral Home. As kids we always imagined a corpse sitting up asking, "Am I gone?"

On a similar theme, there is a funeral home where I used to live called "Snouffer's." I guess they can drum up their own business.

[Hampshire]

The Ford Focus.
I always hear it in my head as "Fuck Us" or "Fucked Us".
On the back of the car it looks like a bumper sticker stating what happened when you bought it: Ford fucked us.

[Johnny L.A.]

A couple of hillbilly girls went to a photographer to have their picture taken. 'Stand still,' says one, 'He has to focus.'

'Bofe us?'

[Apollyon]

Well... while I'm more than willing to believe this is apocryphal…

My father swears that when he was growing up in a small rural town a family named Hackett ran several of the local businesses. Specifically, that the father and one son were barbers, another son was a butcher, and the daughter ran a clothing and sewing supplies shop, meaning:

Hackett & Hackett the barbers
Hackett the butcher
Miss Hackett the dressmaker.

He also claims that the local dentists were Messrs. Houton and Achen.



I take this all with a grain… nay.. a sack of salt.

I was pretty amused in the US to see a service station chain named Kum & Go.

[Thudlow Boink]

Originally Posted by Apollyon

I was pretty amused in the US to see a service station chain named Kum & Go.

I've wondered whether that was the convenience store involved in this recent story at Not Always Right.

Me: “We go all out at [store]! How may I help you?”

Caller: *sounding concerned* “Yes, hello. I was just looking over my husband’s credit card bill and I saw a charge to [store] from a few months back. I was wondering…what kind of a business are you?”

Me: “We are a convenience store, ma’am.”

Caller: “Oh, good, thank you! You have a fantastic day now.”

Man, in the background of the call: “I told you!”

[Huerta88]

Snap-On Tools always made me snicker.

[campp]

I think the Drury Inns have a bad name. I always think of Dreary Inn.

[jasonh300]

Originally Posted by Apollyon

He also claims that the local dentists were Messrs. Houton and Achen.

There's a dentist named Dr. Akin in Algiers, Louisiana.
Dr. Heurtin is an orthodontist in Gretna, Louisiana who has been practicing since mid-80s...his office was right next to my orthodontist and he's still listed in the yellow pages.

Also a Dr. Clotworthy, DDS in Metairie, LA who probably should've been a hematologist.

Dr. Richard P. Dickey is a Gynecologist in Metairie, LA, as is Dr. Bohn (pronounced bone) and we can't forget Dr. Peeper, OB/GYN.

[fluiddruid]

Originally Posted by Thudlow Boink

I've wondered whether that was the convenience store involved in this recent story at Not Always Right.

Ha, I'm pretty sure it is, based on the location. When I saw that story, I looked it up out of curiosity, and there's only two convenience stories in that town... and I'm pretty sure they weren't calling about Casey's.

[Ludovic]

The former discount brokerage Quick & Reilly. It seems to invoke the image of a quick and wiley company.

[scratch llll]

Everett Cock Insurance

Theres an insurance for that? It's in the south too. What parent gives thier kid a name he will get his butt kicked for just speaking aloud? A Cock apparently.

[Yorikke]

Originally Posted by Thudlow Boink

I've wondered whether that was the convenience store involved in this recent story at Not Always Right.

Ha! I also assumed it was Kum-N-Go...

Joe

[Bordesley]

I used to know an Estate Agent in Brum called CHISLERS