# Business names that thoroughly irritate you for no valid reason **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 1, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673 "2016-09-01T17:41:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/181 "2016-09-06T16:47:24Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > Fractured Prune (donut shop) Reminds me of the '60s rock group The Electric Prunes. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/182 "2016-09-06T19:23:04Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > There’s a **BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse** in Beavercreek, OH. Hey, I like a BJ just as much as the next guy, but come on… Seems to be popular nomenclature for restaurants. There’s a truck stop near here called BJ’s, and the restaurant attached to the local bowling alley (which no longer exists) was called BJ’s. > [@](#): > > There’s a Hair Salon in New Carlisle, OH called **Born To Be Styled**. Cute, but ugh. Oooh, that reminds me of a recently-closed business here that was called, “Out on a Whim”. I could never precisely determine what they sold by looking through the windows while walking past. It looked like knick-knacks. ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/183 "2016-09-06T19:56:31Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Ha. Aldi is the opposite of pretentious. They’re SUPER cheap. It’s all their own house brand, which is good quality. You should check it out. I second **Renee**. Aldi is a wonderful chain, a little quirky but always good value. Kinda like Trader Joe’s in some respects, but with more attitude. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/184 "2016-09-06T20:05:49Z")
> [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](#): > > I second **Renee**. Aldi is a wonderful chain, a little quirky but always good value. Kinda like Trader Joe’s in some respects, but with more attitude. An attitude that includes bring-your-own shopping bags and paying a quarter for a shopping cart. ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/185 "2016-09-06T20:08:03Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > An attitude that includes bring-your-own shopping bags and paying a quarter for a shopping cart. Yes, but you get your quarter back. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/186 "2016-09-06T20:12:40Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > An attitude that includes bring-your-own shopping bags and paying a quarter for a shopping cart. Around here (Kansas), they have shopping bags for sale, and they put out the empty boxes for free. (Also, you get the quarter back when you return the cart to the corral.) ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/187 "2016-09-06T20:57:22Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > My first job, when I was fourteen, was a children’s clothing store in the mall called “Tot Toggery”. God, how I hated having to say that to people when they asked me where I worked. Not only did it sound stupid but nobody was familiar with the term “togs” for clothing so they sure as hell didn’t get what a “toggery” was. Tot toggery sounds like something that would get you 25-to-life. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/188 "2016-09-06T21:09:40Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Kumho tires. Yes, I know it is supposed to be pronounced with a long “U” sound. I don’t. Ever. I visualize a slightly deficient hillbilly calling out to his cousin, “Hay, Jethro, wanna get in my kumho?” Okay, sick. But yeah, it’s not a name I’d want on my car. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/189 "2016-09-06T21:25:02Z")
Yeah? Well the name I would not want on my car is one that evokes Killed In Action. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/190 "2016-09-06T21:28:40Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Ruth’s Chris Steak House. Yes, stupid stupid stupid. And hwaaay overpriced. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/191 "2016-09-06T21:40:18Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Near where I shop (in Springfield, OH) is a **Five Guys Burgers & Fries**. So, does that mean the company was started by five guys? So clever! :rolleyes: Suffice to say, I’ve never been there. I don’t go to Five Guys because their name is similar to Two Guys Hoagies, a wonderful local sub shop that closed a year ago when the two guys decided to retire from the restaurant business and no one else around here makes a Cuban sandwich that’s half as good as theirs. I’m glad they were able to retire, but \*damn \*I miss that place. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/192 "2016-09-06T22:49:16Z")
> [@DonLogan](#): > > Ass Effects. That’s not something people say though, unless maybe they’re trying to belittle the Mass Effect series. No wonder the naming guy or whatever let it through. ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/193 "2016-09-07T22:26:03Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Yeah? Well the name I would not want on my car is one that evokes Killed In Action. Or Killed In Automobile. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/194 "2016-09-07T23:59:10Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > They’re just attempting to be the first entry in the book. Very obviously! But what actual good could it do them when they’re not otherwise identifiable? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/195 "2016-09-08T01:36:39Z")
It’s planned to work like this: There’s water pouring out of broken plumbing into your kitchen. You’re in a hurry, panicked, etc. You open the phone book and call the very first number you see. Under that scenario being that very first number is valuable. Big time valuable. You’re right that being the #5 of 9 plumbers named about like to AAAA-AA is pretty useless. Unless you buy the bigger ad than the guy above you, or he doesn’t answer his phone. Like so many other facets of consumerism, this arms race has been going on for a long time and by now is well past the point of diminishing returns. IOW in your local area A, AA, & AAA Plumbing probably date from the 1950s. OTOH, AAAAAA-AAAAA Plumbing was started in 2010. You’ll also note the only businesses that do this kind of name game are ones called in an emergency. You don’t see A, AA, and AA-AAA-AAA grocery stores or car dealers. You do see plumbers, electricians, locksmiths, etc. IOW, retail services bought in a crisis. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/196 "2016-09-08T02:15:27Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > … > Oooh, that reminds me of a recently-closed business here that was called, “Out on a Whim”. I could never precisely determine what they sold by looking through the windows while walking past. It looked like knick-knacks. My first reaction to “Out on a Whim,” for no reason that I can state, is that it was probably named by the same people who named my example in the OP, “Thrift On By.” They have a similar…ring to them. At least “Out on a Whim” has an actual phrase that it’s referencing and doesn’t seem to encourage people NOT to stop in. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/197 "2016-09-08T06:51:22Z")
When you speak of the “A” names, one that always kind of bugged me was Big A Auto Parts. The name, by itself, is almost benign, but they had to, just had to, make it distinctive on the sign. So the “A” was divided into two halves, but the upper central section was circular instead of triangular. Perhaps the idea was to evoke a pair of wrenches, or slip-joint pliers, but to me, that graphic, in concert with “Big A” evoked another thing entirely. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/198 "2016-09-08T14:08:42Z")
Krispy Kreme has always bothered me. The spelling is an issue, but also the apparent contradiction (at least in my head). Cream should not be crispy and if it is I ain’t gonna eat it! Also, a total nitpick, the name does not indicate donuts to me. Maybe a dairy, but not donuts. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/199 "2016-09-08T14:17:16Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > When you speak of the “A” names, one that always kind of bugged me was Big A Auto Parts. The name, by itself, is almost benign, but they had to, just had to, make it distinctive on the sign. So the “A” was divided into two halves, but the upper central section was circular instead of triangular. Perhaps the idea was to evoke a pair of wrenches, or slip-joint pliers, but to me, that graphic, in concert with “Big A” evoked another thing entirely. Twice now, I’ve seen a Big O Tires sign fail that left _ **BigOT** _ shining out into the darkness. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/200 "2016-09-08T14:34:02Z")
There was a Waffle House near a freeway off ramp near my last house. Which had their tall trademark sign of black block letters against a backlit yellow background. With a W whose backlighting kept failing & not being fixed. So there it was, a shining beacon in the dark calling all hungry travelers: AFFLE HOUSE Whether you read it as Awful House or as Offal House, either way it wasn’t appetizing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673.md?page=11)