# Businesses with names which sound like puns, but aren't **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 27, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298 "2011-08-27T17:10:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/1 "2011-08-27T17:10:01Z")
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](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=621954) 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… ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/2 "2011-08-27T18:58:19Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/3 "2011-08-27T19:19:27Z")
Yeah, it’s definitely a K in Wakovia. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/4 "2011-08-27T19:36:44Z")
[Schindler’s Lifts.](http://www.schindlerlifts.co.uk/) They were around long before the movie. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/5 "2011-08-27T20:05:17Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > [Schindler’s Lifts.](http://www.schindlerlifts.co.uk/) They were around long before the movie. 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/6 "2011-08-28T03:45:45Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/7 "2011-08-28T05:11:35Z")
Fry’s Electronics. Nobody fries their electronics on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/8 "2011-08-28T05:55:08Z")
We used to have a drug store in town called IDEAL DRUGS. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/9 "2011-08-28T13:33:20Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > …I knew a restaurant in NY called “Foo King,”… ['Twas in the Bronx.](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dQuacLNyX8E/S4bUjXzx4FI/AAAAAAAADNw/FX0i6GWQTYA/s1600-h/Fook+King+copy.jpg) On Westchester Avenue. ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/10 "2011-08-28T14:30:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/11 "2011-08-28T23:53:14Z")
Here we have a bank called the Rabobank. It’s pronounced rob-a-bank. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/12 "2011-08-29T00:17:44Z")
[Nicewonger](http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-0000588411-page.html) [House of Hose](http://spokanehose.com/) [Assman Electronics](http://www.importgenius.com/importers/assman-electronics-inc) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/13 "2011-08-29T05:38:27Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > ['Twas in the Bronx.](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dQuacLNyX8E/S4bUjXzx4FI/AAAAAAAADNw/FX0i6GWQTYA/s1600-h/Fook+King+copy.jpg) > > On Westchester Avenue. This was some years back, but it was in Manhattan. Just what New York needs: _Another_ Foo King Chinese restaurant! ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/14 "2011-08-29T09:15:24Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > 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.) No, they call themselves Schindler Lifts, which is still an accidental pun. 😃 about the building. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/15 "2011-08-29T12:20:23Z")
> **[expertsexchange.com](https://venture.com/domains/expertsexchange.com)** ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/16 "2011-08-29T12:22:36Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > ['Twas in the Bronx.](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dQuacLNyX8E/S4bUjXzx4FI/AAAAAAAADNw/FX0i6GWQTYA/s1600-h/Fook+King+copy.jpg) I misread that as an entry to this thread. I.e. sounding like a pun on “Twats in the Bronx” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/17 "2011-08-29T13:36:49Z")
Benrich Jewelery. Yeah, I _was_ rich, but then I went and bought some jewelry. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/18 "2011-08-29T13:39:30Z")
_Dune Drugs_. Um, where is the spice? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/19 "2011-08-29T13:40:16Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > [www.expertsexchange.com](http://www.expertsexchange.com) Similar to [therapists.com](http://therapists.com) and [penisland.com](http://penisland.com) and the famous powergenitalia. [(Cite).](http://www.snopes.com/business/names/domains.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Soliloquy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Soliloquy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soliloquy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298/20 "2011-08-29T15:26:39Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/businesses-with-names-which-sound-like-puns-but-arent/594298.md?page=2)