# Confusing product names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [April 18, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472 "2024-04-18T19:59:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/21 "2024-04-19T01:00:35Z")
I wrote a book full of these! eg: Guinea pigs are not pigs, and are not from guinea. Danish pastries are not from Denmark Kiwifruit did not originate in New Zealand Panama hats did not originate in Panama and so on … ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/22 "2024-04-19T01:09:01Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Kiwifruit did not originate in New Zealand IIRC they used to be called Chinese gooseberries. A woman whose name I don’t remember thought they reminded her of the flightless bird and that people would like them more if they had a shorter name. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/23 "2024-04-19T01:10:49Z")
Mello Yello soft drink. It is meant to compete with Mountain Dew. It contains a lot of caffeine. “Mellow” is not what the customers are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/24 "2024-04-19T01:12:00Z")
Just one branch of the Call of Duty video game series: - **Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare** (2007) - **Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2** (2009) - **Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex Edition** (2009) - **Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3** (2011) - **Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: Defiance** (2011) - **Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered** (2016) - **Call of Duty: Modern Warfare** (2019) - **Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered** (2020) - **Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II** (2022) - **Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III** (2023) ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/25 "2024-04-19T01:55:03Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Miracle Whip is not a miracle, or even whipped. It is as odd name for the spread they serve on sandwiches in Hell. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/26 "2024-04-19T01:57:42Z")
OOH! I’m gonna use that one! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/27 "2024-04-19T02:24:14Z")
The vendor for an aircraft component I was looking for information on was identified on an old drawing as “Eros Plaisir”. I absentmindedly googled the term, and found plenty of sex shops and toys, but not the oxygen line fitting I was looking for! ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/28 "2024-04-19T02:53:59Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Contains no Germans either. At least not according to the standard recipe. The (in)famous Lechter Variation notwithstanding. And Girl Scout cookies are not made from real Girl Scouts. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/29 "2024-04-19T03:14:08Z")
When I started working at 7-Eleven, I was unfamiliar with a brand called Liquid Death. When someone brought up a can of it for me to scan, it took me a minute to realize it was water and not, like, beer or something. So I didn’t have to ID them. Liquid Death is a very strange name for flavored water. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/30 "2024-04-19T03:31:12Z")
Petchow Rat Poison should not be fed to your pet. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IprSkoPs2aQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Petchow: Rat Poison - SNL") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IprSkoPs2aQ) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/31 "2024-04-19T11:12:47Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Liquid Death is a very strange name for flavored water. We sell that at my work too. Have you seen the names of the flavors? Severed Lime, Convicted Melon, Armless Palmer etc. But, yeah, I felt the same way about the cans as well. When we first brought it in, I showed it to the cashiers to tell them same thing, that it’s water, not something alcoholic. And right around the same time, we I brought in Hard Arizona tea and I also showed those cans to the cashiers because they ARE alcoholic, but look damn near [identical](https://www.molsoncoorsblog.com/sites/mcblog/files/2022-07/KV_AZ%20Hard%20Landscape.jpg) to the regular cans of Arizona. Luckily those, and the Hard Monster (Beast Unleashed) use a different method for putting the graphics on the cans such that they actually feel different. You can tell as soon as you grab it that it’s different. In those cases (hard drinks that look like regular drinks), I worry less about my cashiers not realizing it than I do about someone stopping in during their lunch break and grabbing one without realizing it has alcohol in it. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/32 "2024-04-19T13:08:50Z")
More ‘produce’ than ‘product’, but a pineapple resembles neither a pine nor an apple. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/33 "2024-04-19T13:15:03Z")
I don’t know – I can easily see that one. It certainly does resemble a pine cone, if not a pine tree. And “apple” used to be applied to all sorts of fruit as a general term – “May Apples”, for instance. When I was a kid we called pomegranates “Chinese Apples”. It’s not at all like the classic “The _Holy Roman Empire_ was neither “Holy”, nor “Roman”, nor an “Empire”.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/34 "2024-04-19T13:37:44Z")
“Red Rock Cider: It’s Not Red, and There’s No Rocks In It.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QjNWJT238ak/hqdefault.jpg "Red Rock Cider commercial with Leslie Nielsen") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjNWJT238ak) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/35 "2024-04-19T13:59:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I don’t know – I can easily see that one. It certainly does resemble a pine cone, if not a pine tree. Well, then, it should have been called a ‘pineconeapple’, dammit! 😄 ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/36 "2024-04-19T14:14:53Z")
Quilted Northern ultra plush. It seems quilted but what does ultra plush mean, and how is it different from regular plush. Also it says its from Georgia so its _not_ northern! Humpf! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/37 "2024-04-19T14:27:54Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Well, then, it should have been called a ‘pineconeapple’, dammit! “What do you kids want?” _“Pinecone-Resembling Fruit!”_ "On _pizza?"_ ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/38 "2024-04-19T14:32:14Z")
Only with long-aged dried out pig legs! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/39 "2024-04-19T14:34:00Z")
Mmmmm … dried out pig legs … ---
**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:** [April 19, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/40 "2024-04-19T14:36:36Z")
That’s _salt-infused_ dried out pig legs. The reechest kind! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472.md?page=3)