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…
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.
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.)
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!
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.
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.
about the building.