# 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:** 4
**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:** [April 20, 2024, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/61 "2024-04-20T14:25:32Z")
The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroad does not actually go to Santa Fe, and it appears that it never has. The town of Mount Dora Florida does not have any feature even vaguely resembling a mountain (I suppose the name could mean another thing entirely, but, best not go there). ---
**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 20, 2024, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/62 "2024-04-20T14:45:55Z")
As a kid with a grandfather who was Welsh, I was genuinely confused about the dish Welsh Rabbit. Wait, what? It’s just cheese on toast? No rabbits were harmed in the making? Ok… ---
**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 20, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/63 "2024-04-20T16:08:37Z")
Because it isn’t, and never has been “Welsh rabbit”. It’s “Welsh Rarebit”, as is “Welsh Delicacy” ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/64 "2024-04-20T16:08:42Z")
I always wondered what was the mountain you can supposedly view from Mountain View, California. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/65 "2024-04-20T16:28:27Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Because it isn’t, and never has been “Welsh rabbit”. My understanding is that it might have actually been originally called “rabbit,” as a joke. > [@](#): > > _ **The first recorded reference to the dish comes from 1725** _, where it was called ‘Welsh rabbit’. This, historians believe, caught on as a joke, but their interpretations differ. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the English would often give laughably fancy names to any food or product common to a region or profession. > > _ **Use of the term Welsh rarebit began towards the end of the 18th century** _ and became more commonplace as the dish gained in popularity. The name change was probably an attempt to make the name more fitting to the dish and drop some patronizing overtones, according to the Oxford Dictionary. > ---
**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:** [April 20, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/66 "2024-04-20T17:09:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Because it isn’t, and never has been “Welsh rabbit” [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_rarebit#Name) disagrees: > [@](#): > > The original 18th-century name of the dish was the jocular “Welsh rabbit”, which was later [reinterpreted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_etymology) as “rarebit”, as the dish contains no [rabbit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_as_food). > [@](#): > > “Welsh” was probably used as a pejorative [dysphemism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysphemism),[[16]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_rarebit#cite_note-16) meaning “anything substandard or vulgar”,[[17]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_rarebit#cite_note-17) and suggesting that “only people as poor and stupid as the Welsh would eat cheese and call it rabbit”,[[18]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_rarebit#cite_note-18)[[19]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_rarebit#cite_note-19) or that “the closest thing to rabbit the Welsh could afford was melted cheese on toast”.[[20]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_rarebit#cite_note-20) ---
**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 20, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/67 "2024-04-20T18:02:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Because it isn’t, and never has been “Welsh rabbit”. It’s “Welsh Rarebit”, as is “Welsh Delicacy” Good sir, if you’re going to call out a man of 1/4 Welsh heritage on the proper name of a Welsh dish, at least have the good etiquette to click my ‘reply’ link, quote or ‘@‘ me so I am alerted to reply and defend my Welsh honor. I see @kenobi_65 and @Thudlow_Boink have done so in my stead, and I thank them for it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/68 "2024-04-20T18:05:33Z")
For all we know the rabbits in Wales used to taste a lot like cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/69 "2024-04-20T18:39:12Z")
I guess you have to tread Caerphilly around this one… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/70 "2024-04-20T18:50:41Z")
I saw a commercial last night (I watch a lot of bad TV in the evening) for some kind of Overglorified Wet-Wipe that is supposed to get you clean. It’s called Skunky. Really? What the hell? ---
**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 20, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/71 "2024-04-20T18:56:55Z")
One and all: Thank you for the polite but firm correction. Another myth is BUSTED. ---
**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 20, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/72 "2024-04-20T19:03:21Z")
Eh, not really. As @Thudlow_Boink pointed out, the entire name seems to have been pretty much a joke, including the ‘Welsh’ part, meant as a pejorative, not necessarily a country of origin: “Poor man’s” rabbit. In any case, I think we can all agree that it’s a pretty confusing name 😏 ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/73 "2024-04-20T23:37:46Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroad does not actually go to Santa Fe, and it appears that it never has. The railroad line that goes through the town where I grew up was historically called the Atlantic, Tennessee, and Ohio Railroad. It’s approximately 40 miles of track, entirely in western North Carolina. It’s nowhere near the Atlantic Ocean, Tennessee, or Ohio. I feel like 19th century railroad companies liked to give themselves very ambitious names. (Nowadays, the line is just a pretty minor Norfolk Southern branch line, although there has been talk of using it for commuter trains between Charlotte and its northern suburbs.) On a completely different note, I never found red delicious apples to be particularly delicious. ---
**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 21, 2024, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/74 "2024-04-21T00:22:07Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I always wondered what was the mountain you can supposedly view from Mountain View, California. You could see the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west, if there weren’t all those buildings in the way, which there weren’t when the town was named. The Santa Cruz Mountains to the west plus the Diablo Range to the east form the Santa Clara Valley, which today doesn’t seem very valley-like unless you can get an unobstructed view. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/75 "2024-04-21T00:26:34Z")
Maybe Mountainview, Arkansas? Better than Plainview? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/76 "2024-04-21T01:13:15Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Miracle Whip is not a miracle, or even whipped. The miracle is that it’s still made, and that anyone ever buys it. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2024, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/77 "2024-04-21T03:01:16Z")
My friend once bought a container of sea salt. Oddly, it came from Utah. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/78 "2024-04-21T03:03:36Z")
Inland seas totally count! 😉 ---
**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:** [April 21, 2024, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/79 "2024-04-21T03:04:58Z")
That might make sense if they called it a sea. They do not. They call it a lake. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472/80 "2024-04-21T03:14:17Z")
Why do they call it Ovaltine? The mug is round. They should call it “Roundtine”. Sorry 😉 Boston Cream Pie is not a pie, though it does appear to have come from Boston. I don’t want to admit how old I was before I learned that. Snickers bars are in no way funny. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confusing-product-names/1000472.md?page=5)