# Did anyone think to say this drug name out loud, before marketing it?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 2, 2008, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970 "2008-02-02T10:22:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/1 "2008-02-02T10:22:27Z")
I’ve been hearing an ad for a new gastric reflux drug. The name is _AcipHex_. Ok, it denotes its pH control, but, the silly thing is pronounced “ass`effects.” Come on, that’s hysterical! Maybe, I’m just juvenile enough to find it funny. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SomeUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@SomeUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeUserName)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/2 "2008-02-02T10:57:55Z")
You are not the only one to find things like that funny. There is a pharmacy insurance coverage with the name “Pharmasses”. I mean really. Did no one say that outloud. ---
**Author:** ![rectal\_anarchy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@rectal\_anarchy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rectal_anarchy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/3 "2008-02-02T11:38:06Z")
i like it too, so i guess we’re both juvenile ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/4 "2008-02-02T11:43:08Z")
Damitol! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/5 "2008-02-02T11:57:38Z")
[http://www.penisland.net/](http://www.penisland.net/) (SFW!) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/6 "2008-02-02T12:16:26Z")
When life just blows. . . .[Fukitol!](http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2006/fukitol-p1.php) ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/7 "2008-02-02T18:06:37Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] I’ve been hearing an ad for a new gastric reflux drug. The name is _AcipHex_. Ok, it denotes its pH control, but, the silly thing is pronounced “ass`effects.” Come on, that’s hysterical! Maybe, I’m just juvenile enough to find it funny. 😃 [/QUOTE] I noticed this, too. I had to wonder what they were thinking! And I’m with you–I’ve got a juvenile sense of humor myself! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/8 "2008-02-02T18:35:56Z")
Might the name have been developed in a non-English speaking country? [This](http://www.docmorris.de/offers/template/4345948b.jpg) is the most popular brand of generic acetylsalicylic acid here in Germany (as Aspirin is still trademarked here, you have to ask for _Acetylsalicylsäure_, or _ASS_ at the pharmacy, or be sold the more expensive Aspirin by Bayer). ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/9 "2008-02-02T18:49:44Z")
Good point, **tschild**. Apparently [Rabeprazol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabeprazole) is marketed by Janssen-Cilag, or [Janssen Pharmaceutica](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janssen_Pharmaceutica), a Belgian company. So, this might have slipped through the cracks, indeed. Or, they were just thinking in neutral, scientific terms. As with those still perplexed over the fuss about Uranus. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kerrigan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/49beb7/32.png) [@Kerrigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kerrigan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/10 "2008-02-02T21:13:11Z")
I’ve been taking this drug for a week… hadn’t even noticed. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/11 "2008-02-03T00:42:00Z")
Remember when many (all?) Sav-On drugstores were renames Osco? This is not an urban legend, like the Nova-car-in-Mexico (which sold quite well, and didn’t mean what Americans seemed to think it means). Asco, a Spanish word that sounds almost identical, renders as “disgust” in Babelfish. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/12 "2008-02-03T00:48:43Z")
I take Aciphex, ironically enough because of the “ass effects” I was getting from Nexium. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/13 "2008-02-03T00:51:07Z")
It must have been approved many years ago- but sometimes I am surprised nobody has ever called for a boycott of Fosamax. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/14 "2008-02-03T01:59:36Z")
Good thing the folks at Viagra said the initial product name out loud, and subsequently changed it from Mycoxaphalin. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/15 "2008-02-03T02:27:42Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] When life just blows. . . .[Fukitol!](http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2006/fukitol-p1.php) [/QUOTE] There is a suppository version. _Jamitol_. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/16 "2008-02-03T02:33:47Z")
[QUOTE=Kerrigan] I’ve been taking this drug for a week… hadn’t even noticed. Thanks. [/QUOTE] I took it for several years and never noticed. However, I did notice that my doctor pronounced it “A”- ciphex. I always thought he was just weird (aciphex - acid), but maybe he felt uncomfortable saying the word “ass”. ---
**Author:** ![Paragod22510](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b5ac83/32.png) [@Paragod22510](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paragod22510)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/17 "2008-02-03T02:36:55Z")
An oldie but a goodie: Phenobarbitol. It may seem innocuous, maybe even vanilla. But to Emergency Medical Services, this drug is often pronounced Peanut Butter Ball. And I feel sorry for those taking aciphex. It is ungodly expensive if you don’t have drug coverage with your insurance. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/18 "2008-02-03T04:05:16Z")
[QUOTE=Ice Wolf] Good point, **tschild**. Apparently [Rabeprazol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabeprazole) is marketed by Janssen-Cilag, or [Janssen Pharmaceutica](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janssen_Pharmaceutica), a Belgian company. **So, this might have slipped through the cracks, indeed.** Or, they were just thinking in neutral, scientific terms. As with those still perplexed over the fuss about Uranus. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Pun intended? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/19 "2008-02-03T04:10:31Z")
No, but that’s damn good! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970/20 "2008-02-03T05:56:39Z")
There’s a weightloss supplement that goes by the name of Fücothin. They probably don’t intend the pronunciation to be the one I’ve chosen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-think-to-say-this-drug-name-out-loud-before-marketing-it/435970.md?page=2)