# Deliberate Misspelling of Business Names **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2001, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberate-misspelling-of-business-names/79905 "2001-09-05T18:44:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberate-misspelling-of-business-names/79905/21 "2001-09-06T01:38:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lao Tzu \* > \*\*Probably true that Compaq stands for “compatibility and quality,” but i think it’s far from an accident that it resembles a real, positive-associated word that people know (“compact”). “Compqual” is a closer contraction, but they probably realized it isn’t as rememberable. > \*\* Makes sense, especially since the first Compaq was a _compact_ (well, it was “transportable”, at any rate) IBM-compatible PC. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberate-misspelling-of-business-names/79905/22 "2001-09-06T01:55:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gabbyhayes \* > \*\*Chilitos, a product you can buy at taco hell, is mexican slang for “penis” (when you get right down to it, what ISN’T slang for some sex organ or other?) so mexican boys working the counter used to burst out laughing when women would ask for chilitos. \*\* A friend of mine as an interesting story about that… Back when Taco Bell still sold them under the name Chillito, a friend of his went to taco bell with her Mexican grandmother. Up at the counter, she ordered a chillito, and her grandmother turned and slapped her across the face. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberate-misspelling-of-business-names/79905/23 "2001-09-06T02:48:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Colibri \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Nostradamus \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by Lao Tzu \* > > > \*\*For 500 points, does anyone know what Kodak stands for? > > > \*\* > > > > This is a trick question. > > > > The name is purely arbitrary. \*\* > > George Eastman chose it because he just happened to like words that began and ended in “k”. \*\* Interesting, I had always heard it was onomatopoeia(hehe had to look that one up, my spelling wasn’t even close) based on the sound it made, but I never bothered to check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Neurodoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Neurodoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurodoc)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberate-misspelling-of-business-names/79905/24 "2001-09-06T07:16:04Z")
I’ve always liked the goofy attempts to hijack brand names. Here are a couple: There’s a place I saw driving through Colorado near Fort Lewis about 25 years ago. A real cheapo-motel: The “Ramuda Inn…” Someone tried to sell me a wristwatch a while ago when I was living in Manhattan. It was a “Longunes.” ---
**Author:** ![Lao\_Tzu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Lao\_Tzu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tzu)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberate-misspelling-of-business-names/79905/25 "2001-09-06T07:34:45Z")
Wow, everyone gets points! This page explains the genesis of “Kodak”: [http://www.thebigcamera.com.au/Kodak.html](http://www.thebigcamera.com.au/Kodak.html) Didn’t know Eastman died that way… A Kodak moment? Sorry. * * * “There is nothing so annoying as to have two people go right on talking when you’re interrupting.” – Mark Twain ---
**Author:** ![breaknrun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbce88/32.png) [@breaknrun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breaknrun)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberate-misspelling-of-business-names/79905/26 "2001-09-06T15:17:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gabbyhayes \* > \*\* I don’t know if any of these are true. Don’t care. > \*\* That’s the spirit. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mike30](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@Mike30](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike30)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberate-misspelling-of-business-names/79905/27 "2001-09-06T15:33:53Z")
There is a hotel/rooming house on the seedy side of town in Vancouver called the “Hilden”. When you see it there is absolutely NO chance of mistaking it for the “Hilton”. I wonder if any tourists have been caught by this ever. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberate-misspelling-of-business-names/79905/28 "2001-09-06T17:09:01Z")
Just outside Winter Park is a seedy little motel called the - [e.com](http://e.com) lodge - complete with thin plaid border, looking like an Econo Lodge ad. I’ve seen quite a few Motel 7s and one Motel 5, as well as a 6-12 convenience store. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberate-misspelling-of-business-names/79905/29 "2001-09-06T22:18:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by screech-owl \* > \*\*Just outside Winter Park is a seedy little motel called the - [e.com](http://e.com) lodge - complete with thin plaid border, looking like an Econo Lodge ad. > > I’ve seen quite a few Motel 7s and one Motel 5, as well as a 6-12 convenience store. \*\* There’s a Hotel 6-ish looking place called “Eastin” here in the Detroit Suburbs. Heck, does the moderately-upscale “Westin” brand still exist? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deliberate-misspelling-of-business-names/79905.md?page=1)