# Clever brand names

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-brand-names/233094>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 8, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-brand-names/233094 "2004-03-08T06:03:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-brand-names/233094/1 "2004-03-08T06:03:45Z")

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I tend to lean toward the classics, and my list reflects that.

Vesta - A brand of stove. Named for the Roman goddess of the hearth. Subtle.

Frigidaire - The unheated pool in the Roman baths was called the frigidarium. Also subtle, but very witty.

Magnavox - Latin for “great voice”. Nice name for a stereo.

Volvo - Also Latin. It means “I roll”. I’m not sure what the Latin word for “boxy” would be.

And one I came across today at the store: Anusol. A brand of hemmorhoidal suppository. From the Latin “anus” (obvious) and “sol”, meaning the sun. A giant burning ball of fire. Singularly appropriate, I’d say. Now you tell me that wasn’t deliberate on their part.

And people wonder why I occasionally burst into uncontrollable laughter in the middle of the supermarket.

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**Author:** ![dinoboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dinoboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinoboy)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-brand-names/233094/2 "2004-03-08T06:32:52Z")

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Reebok once named a shoe “Incubus” (which was a male form of a"Succubus") a male demon which spread its seed by mating with unsuspecting women (call it rape if you will).

Good research there!

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**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-brand-names/233094/3 "2004-03-08T07:07:18Z")

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Nytol, the sleep aid.

Speaking of which, I ought to head off for a snooze myself.

Night, all.

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**Author:** ![angelicate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@angelicate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angelicate)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-brand-names/233094/4 "2004-03-08T07:36:10Z")

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> [@Kizarvexius](#):
>
> Frigidaire - The unheated pool in the Roman baths was called the frigidarium. Also subtle, but very witty.

Nice. I always thought it refered to the frigid air inside the fridge.

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**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-brand-names/233094/5 "2004-03-08T10:53:32Z")

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**Vesta** was also the name of a strike-anywhere match made in England. Even more clever and to the point, since the Vestal virgins guarded the sacred fire.

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**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-brand-names/233094/6 "2004-03-08T12:10:28Z")

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Duck Tape?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clever-brand-names/233094/7 "2004-03-08T15:47:09Z")

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When I was in Greece a few years back I saw a box of matches with the brand name Diogenes. Complete with an engraving of the old man wandering about in the middle of the day holding up a lantern.

Had forgotten about that one.