# Name my wife's new cafe! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406 "2009-07-18T03:24:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/21 "2009-07-18T11:24:50Z")
Me Chew At. “I’ll meet you at… Me Chew At”. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/22 "2009-07-18T11:28:46Z")
**Get Stuffed.** As a name I mean. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/23 "2009-07-18T12:17:42Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I always thought a good name for a cafe (probably been done a thousand times) “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” from the Hemingway story, and the takeout menu would obviously have to be called A Moveable Feast. I actually like these a whole lot. Does your wife have a favorite writer or artist or suchlike whose name (or output) we could riff from? My old boss was co-owner (with her husband and BIL, who was the chef) of a similar type place called The Hamlet, named because the husband loved Shakespeare. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/24 "2009-07-18T14:15:02Z")
I like Oui as well. But make sure you have large restrooms. But it seems a little pretentious. There is a new upper end restaurant started by a local that already had a very, very successful restaurant. The name – Modis. Why Modis? More of this. Mo-dis. In French – “Plus de ceci” That’s also pretentious. Hmmmm…. Welcome home - maison bienvenue Get thee to [bablefish.com](http://bablefish.com) On the other hand, there is an italian place that I go to that for the life of me I can never remember the name of. That’s not to good for business. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/25 "2009-07-18T14:33:34Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I always thought a good name for a cafe (probably been done a thousand times) “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” from the Hemingway story, and the takeout menu would obviously have to be called A Moveable Feast. Great suggestion, but there was a wonderful bookstore in downtown SF (a bit of an institution actually) called [“A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books”](http://www.yelp.com/biz/a-clean-well-lighted-place-for-books-san-francisco) that closed fairly recently, so any similar title will likely be seen as a rather craven and transparent way to piggyback on its long-standing reputation. I was hoping the “Cafe” would take the pretentious edge off of “Oui”. Also, if you hear “Oui” on its own, I think you’re expecting upscale fine dining. The “Cafe” reduces this expectation to something more low-key. My wife’s name is middle-eastern sounding (though she’s of solid mid-west USA stock), so even her name might suggest something different than what she wants. Plus, even though it’s her cafe (her menu, her recipes, her decor, her husband’s music choices), her best friend would be the day-to-day manager (she’ll need to keep her day job to afford running this place, at least only at first, one hopes), so there seems little point to that. **Chez Guavara** would be irresistable if it weren’t so politically loaded, and anyone who asks “Why did you name it that?” will meet a blank face from said manager (great guy in many respects, but not really fluent on Latin American politics). Mrs. AG wants something positive and life-affirming without being sappy. **Bonne Idée** and **Oui Cafe** both meet that bar, so far (though she has also attached herself to **The Peasant and the Poet** as a possibility). > [@twickster](#): > > Does your wife have a favorite writer or artist or suchlike whose name (or output) we could riff from? My old boss was co-owner (with her husband and BIL, who was the chef) of a similar type place called The Hamlet, named because the husband loved Shakespeare. It’s funny, but if I heard “The Hamlet”, I would think William Faulkner. She’s not as attached to pop or high culture as much as I am–we travel a ton and she’d be more likely to name it after one of Paris’ arrondissements than a favorite author or work. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/26 "2009-07-18T14:38:50Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Also, if you hear “Oui” on its own, I think you’re expecting upscale fine dining. Or naked women (I think Oui was the name of an old French nudie mag). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/27 "2009-07-18T14:44:01Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Or naked women (I think Oui was the name of an old French nudie mag). It was a **Playboy** offshoot I think and was a far superior magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/28 "2009-07-18T14:46:53Z")
How about Tout Suite? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/29 "2009-07-18T14:55:26Z")
Can you work in Traiteur (trat-tur)? A _traiteur_ is to the Francophone nations what a _trattoria_ is to Italy: a mostly takeout, partly catering place with modest or no eat-in seating. Le Traiteur de (votre localité), peut-être? Drawback: any wingnuts/illiterates in your area would change it to Traitor. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/30 "2009-07-18T15:04:11Z")
If you have a particularly twisted sense of humour, or the café’s near a landfill, you could call it _La Poubelle_. Sounds dainty and all, but _poubelle_ means ‘garbage’. (French. What a language… 🙂 ) If you serve poutine? _La Poutinette_? Also the name of a sexy superheroine from Québec. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/31 "2009-07-18T16:10:50Z")
You need to find a word in French that sounds good, that is short, and easy to pronounce BUT has no connection or a dumb meaning in English. That way people will say “I wonder what that word means, in English.” They’ll go home and look it up and it’ll be a dumb thing and the person will say “Hmmm, I wonder what relevence that has?” Either way they’ll then remember the name of the cafe. Just make sure the French word is short and easily prononunced ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/32 "2009-07-18T16:26:53Z")
Oo La La ? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/33 "2009-07-18T19:34:36Z")
I always liked **Bistro D’Burden** from _The Tick_ Brian ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/34 "2009-07-18T19:39:52Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > It’s funny, but if I heard “The Hamlet”, I would think William Faulkner. Yeah, several of us pointed that out. **shrug** ---
**Author:** ![Flip\_Pancake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f1d935/32.png) [@Flip\_Pancake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flip_Pancake)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/35 "2009-07-18T19:43:21Z")
Cafe du Nord (Cafe North) Cafe Les Amis (friends) Fourchette (fork) I like the last one best, mostly because I like words that end with ‘ette’. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/36 "2009-07-18T19:51:52Z")
[Oui, the magazine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oui_(magazine)), is apparently still around, now as a hardcore mag. I don’t know how defensive they are about their name and whether it might be copyrighted - one imagines they’re no Disney. Still, I think just plain Oui with nothing else might be best avoided, for the connotation if nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![Marienee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Marienee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marienee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/37 "2009-07-18T20:03:34Z")
Well, based on your wife’s preference I would call it (depending on where she gets her references): Overture Clare or Bunco Harry’s ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/38 "2009-07-18T20:03:50Z")
Minx Moxie Coco Soleil Breeze Azure Caprice Another vote against Oui–I also thought of the porn mag. ---
**Author:** ![imfloating](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bc79bd/32.png) [@imfloating](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imfloating)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/39 "2009-07-18T20:14:35Z")
Lou’s your lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406/40 "2009-07-18T20:23:12Z")
Badinage (french word for banter which is light, jestful exchange) Voisin’s (Early french aviation theme and an excuse to decorate the walls) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-my-wifes-new-cafe/503406.md?page=3)