# Bad business names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2008, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875 "2008-02-16T12:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/21 "2008-02-16T19:43:56Z")
Any business with a superfluous A or string of A’s in front of its name goes right on my Do Not Patronize list. If being listed first in the phone book is that important to you, I somehow doubt you’re gonna be the sharpest tool in the proverbial crib at whatever it is you do. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/22 "2008-02-16T19:48:45Z")
I’ve always thought Blackwater was a particularly portentious name of a mercenary company that carries out murky and sometimes covert military-type operations. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/23 "2008-02-16T19:52:39Z")
The first time I saw it here in Panama, the **Dago Restaurant** made me do a bit of a double take. Of course, Dago is a nickname for Diego, and I guess the owner was unaware of the meaning for English speakers. I also think the Chinese owners of the **Fukin** and **Don Kee** minimarts are unaware of the English meanings. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/24 "2008-02-16T20:04:32Z")
I went by a running shoe shop in Copenhagen, called _Athlete’s Foot_. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/25 "2008-02-16T20:12:15Z")
Peoples Natural Gas springs to mind. I’ve got an old National Lampoon book full of photos of this stuff. “Analtech” was another one. One here in the Bay Area is Sheedy Construction - they do a lot of work in SF. The jokes write themselves; “We do a Sheedy job!” “Sheedy workers, Sheedy materials!” etc etc. Also in SF is the Schindler elevator company - every time I see their trucks all I can think of is “Schindler’s Lifts”. 😃 Not exactly a bad business name but a horrendous advertisement was from a company called “Brains” that made a meat product containing pork. The name of the dish is a “faggot”. There’s a picture of a big poster at a railway station in the UK (IIRC) which proudly proclaims: “It takes Brains to make faggots so full of pork!” ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/26 "2008-02-16T20:14:39Z")
[QUOTE=tschild] I went by a running shoe shop in Copenhagen, called _Athlete’s Foot_. [/QUOTE] That’s a [national chain of stores](http://www.theathletesfoot.com/map.html) here in the US. I’ve always thought it was an unfortunate name too, but apparently it hasn’t been an obstacle to success. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/27 "2008-02-16T21:48:14Z")
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting] I’ve always thought Blackwater was a particularly portentious name of a mercenary company that carries out murky and sometimes covert military-type operations. [/QUOTE] I think it’s an apt name, myself. A little difficult to spin once they get attention on Capitol Hill and all, but still. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/28 "2008-02-16T22:27:34Z")
There’s a high tech company called Mindtelligent. Try to pronounce it. I dare you. Over on the Peninsula there’s a street called Alameda De Las Pulgas. On this street is a restaurant called Flea Street, which is a translation of the street name. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/29 "2008-02-16T22:36:56Z")
[QUOTE=PastAllReason] I think it’s an apt name, myself. A little difficult to spin once they get attention on Capitol Hill and all, but still. [/QUOTE] That’s sort of what I meant, in the sense that you wouldn’t want a company name that cast a portentious shadow on your company at any time. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/30 "2008-02-16T23:02:33Z")
I’m sure that I’ve posted this before, but back in the early '90s, there was a restaurant down in the Strip District in Pittsburgh called **My Dung**. It’s no longer in business. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/31 "2008-02-16T23:44:21Z")
There used to be a fast food place here in the Dominican Republic with the unfortunate name of ‘ **Deli Bely** ’, and when I see the sign for a lawyer called ‘ **Manuel Labour** ’ I can’t help wishing that young Manuel had chosen another profession, like construction. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/32 "2008-02-16T23:53:59Z")
Any company named “Acme.” I always think of Wile E. Coyote and a lot of products I’d never buy. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/33 "2008-02-17T00:00:46Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] Any company named “Acme.” I always think of Wile E. Coyote and a lot of products I’d never buy. [/QUOTE] Having worked for an [Acme](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acme), I have to say that most of those companies are, like Ayds, victims of circumstances, having had the name long before 1949, when Chuck Jones did his first Road Runner cartoon. Though I can’t deny the association is universal. (And it helped that the Coyote never wanted boiler water treatment chemicals…) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/34 "2008-02-17T00:56:58Z")
LOTS of [Acmes](http://www.google.co.th/search?hl=th&q=acme&meta=) out there. In one of the first on the list, the founder says he was a big fan of Wile E. Coyote. Ah yes, and [this one’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companies_named_Acme#Companies) good, too. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/35 "2008-02-17T01:55:53Z")
Not terribly far from here is a business named **Just Oil and More**. It makes me irritable every time I pass it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/36 "2008-02-17T02:03:16Z")
My pet peeve is businesses that Use " 'n " instead of “and,” as in Tires 'n More. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/37 "2008-02-17T02:04:11Z")
There was a store in my hometown called OK Wigs. Has there even been a less inspiring store name? Yes, we have a whole store of just wigs, yes it is not 1965, yes the wigs themselves are mediocre and do not deserve superlatives. Come in before we kill ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/38 "2008-02-17T02:33:25Z")
We used to have a car wash that boasted a brushless, 100% human car washing experience. It was called \*_The Hand Job_. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/39 "2008-02-17T02:37:29Z")
I thought a law firm whose web address was [http://www.mofo.com/](http://www.mofo.com/) would have rated higher in this thread. It’s a personal favorite, but not in the league of some of these others. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875/40 "2008-02-17T04:20:16Z")
Would you want to ride on the [Who gives a sh\*t, anyway](http://www.snopes.com/business/names/wgasa.asp) monorail? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/437875.md?page=3)