# Does the JAX in AJAX have significance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 9, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-jax-in-ajax-have-significance/399295 "2007-04-09T12:09:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-jax-in-ajax-have-significance/399295/1 "2007-04-09T12:09:40Z")
This may be a silly question. I always assumed that AJAX was just a made-up word. Today I saw a truck from a company called PJAX and that made me wonder if the JAX in these names had significance. ---
**Author:** ![MrFantsyPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrFantsyPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFantsyPants)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-jax-in-ajax-have-significance/399295/2 "2007-04-09T12:24:47Z")
If you are talking about the web technology, then the JAX is for “JavaScript and XML”. A is for Asynchronous. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-jax-in-ajax-have-significance/399295/3 "2007-04-09T12:35:02Z")
Ajax was a warrior at Troy. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-jax-in-ajax-have-significance/399295/4 "2007-04-09T12:35:05Z")
[QUOTE=Khadaji] This may be a silly question. I always assumed that AJAX was just a made-up word. Today I saw a truck from a company called PJAX and that made me wonder if the JAX in these names had significance. [/QUOTE] I always assumed Ajax (the cleanser, at least) was named after the warrior in the Illead. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-jax-in-ajax-have-significance/399295/5 "2007-04-09T13:58:14Z")
_Aias_, to give the Greek, was the name of two of the Greek leaders who play important supporting roles in the Tale of Troy. (They’re distinguished as “the Greater” and “the Less” or Big and Little Ajax on account of body size. Ajax the greater was known for being as strong as an ox, and nearly as smart.) Latin rendered _Aias_ as_Aiax_, and as the I/J vowel/consonant distinction became accepted, _Aiax_ was rendered as _Ajax_, in which form it entered early modern English. Worth noting in relation to the familiarity of the usage is that the pun with “a jakes,” i.e., a privy, was made **very** early on, to the point that Sir John Harington’s ca. 1590 essay proposing the concept of the flush toilet was entitled “The Metamorphosis of Ajax.” When a name was being sought for a strong cleansing powder, the fabled strength of the Greek warrior came to the minds of the classics-trained entrepreneurs, and it was dubbed Ajax. Acronyms and puns since have in general played on the Trojan War warrior’s name in Latin. The sole exception is the TLA for Jacksonville FL’s airport, which was assigned JAX echoing the initial sounds of the city name. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-jax-in-ajax-have-significance/399295/6 "2007-04-09T14:08:08Z")
The name of the trucking firm is an acronym representing [Pittsburgh, Johnstown, and Altoona Express](http://www.pointspring.com/nuke/upload/Winter2005Newsletter.pdf), three markets served by the carrier in its earliest days. There is no connection with Ajax or any stand-alone JAX except perhaps that PJAX struck the founders as a euphonious sound-alike. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-jax-in-ajax-have-significance/399295/7 "2007-04-09T14:37:25Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] The name of the trucking firm is an acronym representing [Pittsburgh, Johnstown, and Altoona Express](http://www.pointspring.com/nuke/upload/Winter2005Newsletter.pdf), three markets served by the carrier in its earliest days. There is no connection with Ajax or any stand-alone JAX except perhaps that PJAX struck the founders as a euphonious sound-alike. [/QUOTE] That answers the question well. Thanks to you and all who answered.