Jinx
January 2, 2003, 12:08am
1
I was just wondering how the term “Oreo” came to be associated with a sandwich cookie?
friedo
January 2, 2003, 12:24am
4
Googling for “oreo cookie history” yields this .
So how did the Oreo get its name? The people at Nabisco aren’t quite sure. Some believe that the cookie’s name was taken from the French word for gold, “or” (the main color on early Oreo packages). Others claim the name stemmed from the shape of a hill-shaped test version; thus naming the cookie in Greek for mountain, “oreo.” Still others believe the name is a combination of taking the “re” from “cream” and placing it between the two "o"s in “chocolate” - making “o-re-o.” And still others believe that the cookie was named Oreo because it was short and easy to pronounce.
So why does the Oreo symbol stamped on every cookie have a little TV antenna on it?
lel
January 2, 2003, 12:38am
6
The history of the Oreo cookie says:
Most websites seem to follow this trend, providing much speculation but few definitive answers. In fact, this article seems to be one of the only sources which attempts to give a definitive origin for the name “Oreo”:
Like Spam, the origin of the Oreo’s peculiar name has been the subject of endless speculation. (Spam, in fact, is a conflation of the words spice and ham). According to Nabisco historians, the Oreo was not named after the Greek word oreo, meaning “mountain.” Nabisco’s pride and joy was named by taking the “re” out of cream and squishing it, sandwich-style, between the two “o’s” from the word chocolate.
Unfortunately, they never mention who these Nabisco historians are who say that this is the real origin of the name “Oreo.”
Sadly, the official Oreo website is silent on the matter.