# 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:** 12
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/221 "2016-09-14T20:45:07Z")
> [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](#): > > I saw one yesterday that annoyed me. Driving north on Route 3 in Massachusetts, I passed a tech firm that has the effrontery to call itself “iRobot.” You can only hope the proprietors are paying a royalty to the Asimov estate. Isn’t that the company that makes the Roomba? If so, I’m sure they’ve done the necessary or somebody would have complained a long time ago. 🙂 (In any case, you can’t copyright a title, so there might not even be an issue.) ---
**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 14, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/222 "2016-09-14T21:09:57Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I(In any case, you can’t copyright a title, so there might not even be an issue.) I did not know that. Thank you. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/223 "2016-09-15T03:32:33Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Anything that changes initial letters for an alliteration, like Frank’s Fotomat, or _ **Kountry** _ Kitchen, (Emphasis mine) I’ll extend this to the substitution of “K” for “C” for any reason whatsoever. In a completely different vein, I nominate what used to be called Empire Carpet, whose TV commercials were–and are–broadcast _ad nauseum._ Their jingle went “Eight-hundred five-eight-eight two-three-hundred, Empire!”,and the words and notes fit together perfectly. Then they changed the name to Empire Today, which doesn’t even sound like a retail business name, unless the business is some kind of journal and newspaper. And not even then, unless we’re back in the Victorian era British Empire or something like that. And instead of changing the jingle music, they kept the same recorded music and singing, only now the voiceover person simply interjects the word “Today” immediately following the old jingle. It’s jarring. And if a company is so cheap when they decide to rebrand themselves, what does that tell you about their general quality of service and merchandise? ---
**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 15, 2016, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/224 "2016-09-15T05:15:34Z")
I recall in one apartment we had a Hotpoint refrigerator and a Coldspot stove. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/225 "2016-09-15T05:19:23Z")
I must be easily amused. Probably 90% of these are cracking me up, bad puns and all. Just no sophistication in me, I guess. Anyway, my entry for Ruth’s Chris has been taken, so I’ll skip on down to my second choice; Airbnb. Yeah, I know, but it’s one of the few I hate regardless. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/226 "2016-09-15T15:59:33Z")
There is a facility here called Tacachale. For the longest time, when I heard people mention it, I thought they were saying Taco Charlie’s. Apparently Tacachale is an Indian word. Still don’t like it, but it beats the original name, “Florida Farm Colony for the Epileptic and Feebleminded”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/227 "2016-09-15T17:38:12Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I wish I’d had a camera with me a couple weeks ago when my wife and I drove to the next town for her friend’s birthday. There was sort of a small strip-mall type thing, and the big sign in front read: > > LIQUOR, WINE & BEER > > MARIJUANA > > VEHICLE LICENSING > All it needed was GUNS & AMMO. There was a gas station/convenience store near where I used to live in semi-rural Texas, whose sign urged customers to stop in for: AMMO LIVE BAIT LATTES ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/228 "2016-09-15T18:13:23Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > There was a gas station/convenience store near where I used to live in semi-rural Texas, whose sign urged customers to stop in for: > > AMMO > > LIVE BAIT > > LATTES Similarly (and I’ve posted about it before), one near us used to say Daycare Donuts Indoor Gun Range What could possibly go wrong? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/229 "2016-09-15T18:26:27Z")
> [@mind\_the\_gap](#): > > I’ve always been confused by “Dress Barn”. The stores are not barns, and neither do they sell dresses. They do sell dresses. It’s rather a nice store, reasonable prices, and the staff is helpful without being overbearing. I’ve gotten several nice outfits there. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/230 "2016-09-15T22:25:28Z")
In the Mildly Irritating category, there are businesses whose owners can’t decide exactly what it is they sell, or can’t come up with a catchy name for multiple categories of product. So they give their stores names like “Kiddie Apparel N’Stuff”, “Furniture N’Things”, “Small Furry Animals N’Such” and so on. It sounds amateurish and disorganized (a slightly more sophisticated version is “Bed Bath And Beyond”, a name that narrowly won out over “All Sorts Of Useless Household Shit”). I’m just glad that this tendency hasn’t infiltrated more businesses, otherwise we’d be seeing signs and ads for “Mufflers N’Things” and “Laser Eye Surgery N’Stuff”. \*As for business names incorporating the word “Guys”, I just saw a used car place named “Two Guys Selling Cars”, which inspires even less confidence than movers who call themselves “Four Guys And A Truck”. ---
**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 16, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/231 "2016-09-16T13:02:54Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > There was a gas station/convenience store near where I used to live in semi-rural Texas, whose sign urged customers to stop in for: > > AMMO > LIVE BAIT > LATTES > [@faithfool](#): > > Similarly (and I’ve posted about it before), one near us used to say > > Daycare > > Donuts > > Indoor Gun Range > What could possibly go wrong? There was a mom n’ pop small country store near Natchitoches,\* LA (my home state) with the sign out front: MEAT PIES\*\* LIVE WORMS ROLAIDS I passed that store for years, driving between Baton Rouge and Shreveport back in the '80s and early '90s. For all I know, it’s still there. - pronounced Nak-a-tish \*\* Natchitoches is famous for its meat pies. There’s even an annual meat pie festival. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/232 "2016-09-16T14:21:35Z")
Two restaurant names that irritate me for absolutely no logical reason are “Souplantation” and “Sweet Tomatoes.” I have never eaten at either of these because I can’t get past how much I hate their names. The former is just a stupid name (oddly, it wouldn’t bother me as much if it were “Soup Plantation”) and the latter is because I hate tomatoes, so I associate the whole restaurant with them. ---
**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 16, 2016, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/233 "2016-09-16T14:41:12Z")
Here’s one that a radio spot reminded me of the other day: Spanx. In the radio interview with the woman who launched the business, she says the name came to her as she was driving. Which is lame because it doesn’t tell me what her product is. If I didn’t already know, I would guess it was a line of BDSM toys. She needs to keep driving. ---
**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 16, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/234 "2016-09-16T21:06:41Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Two restaurant names that irritate me for absolutely no logical reason are “Souplantation” and “Sweet Tomatoes.” I have never eaten at either of these because I can’t get past how much I hate their names. > > The former is just a stupid name (oddly, it wouldn’t bother me as much if it were “Soup Plantation”) and the latter is because I hate tomatoes, so I associate the whole restaurant with them. We ate at a Sweet Tomatos in, like, Redding or somesuch. It was basically a salad bar. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/235 "2016-09-16T21:10:08Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Two restaurant names that irritate me for absolutely no logical reason are “Souplantation” and “Sweet Tomatoes.” I have never eaten at either of these because I can’t get past how much I hate their names. > > The former is just a stupid name (oddly, it wouldn’t bother me as much if it were “Soup Plantation”) and the latter is because I hate tomatoes, so I associate the whole restaurant with them. Oddly the chains are connected. One is NorCal the other is SoCal. ---
**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 16, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/236 "2016-09-16T23:51:51Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Two restaurant names that irritate me for absolutely no logical reason are “Souplantation” and “Sweet Tomatoes.” I have never eaten at either of these because I can’t get past how much I hate their names. > > The former is just a stupid name (oddly, it wouldn’t bother me as much if it were “Soup Plantation”) and the latter is because I hate tomatoes, so I associate the whole restaurant with them. There’s a restaurant in my town called “Tomato Jam Cafe.” I also hate tomatoes so I won’t be darkening their doorstep. Tomato jam, ick. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/237 "2016-09-17T01:32:00Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > The company name is fine, until you get a load at the logo and feel rage boil inside of you: > > [Fantastic-5G](http://fantastic5g.eu/) Damn, just kill me know. Unless that’s the driest of visual humor. ---
**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 17, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/238 "2016-09-17T01:47:57Z")
Like I said earlier, you must not understand zero-origin counting. I thought they were being pretty subtle. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/239 "2016-09-17T20:42:26Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > Brief hijack: one Waffle House near my college had a sign that went partially dark for many months before they finally fixed it. It was forevermore known as the Waffle Ho. There’s a woman who has a catering service, whose actual name I won’t use, but it’s called “Jane Doe’s Hors D’oeuvres and More.” When it came up on my old caller ID, it always came up “Jane Doe’s Ho.” > [@Infovore](#): > > Two restaurant names that irritate me for absolutely no logical reason are “Souplantation” and “Sweet Tomatoes.” I have never eaten at either of these because I can’t get past how much I hate their names. > > The former is just a stupid name (oddly, it wouldn’t bother me as much if it were “Soup Plantation”) and the latter is because I hate tomatoes, so I associate the whole restaurant with them. I don’t know why it doesn’t irritate me more-- it actually kinda amuses me-- but there’s a truck stop near the airport here called “Bud’s Eats.” When my brother saw it he really wanted to go there, because he wanted to know what they served at “Bud’s Eats.” I told him “Probably the usual truck stop fare,” and that was when I realized how long I’d been in Indiana. My brother at that point had never lived outside NYC except at his dorm at Northwestern. He’d never been inside a truck stop. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673/240 "2016-09-17T22:29:28Z")
Good Buy Antiques (They do/did estate sales) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/business-names-that-thoroughly-irritate-you-for-no-valid-reason/764673.md?page=13)