# Names with too many words in them **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 4, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016 "2016-09-04T13:55:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/1 "2016-09-04T13:55:43Z")
_Angel Food Cake_ always struck me as a name with one too many words in it. Likewise Rosebay Willowherb (AKA fireweed). What’s going on there? What other names have too many words? ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/2 "2016-09-04T14:13:00Z")
_Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand_ ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/3 "2016-09-04T14:34:16Z")
[Alissar Princess of Phoenicea](http://www.countrygardenroses.co.uk/shop/view/682-Alissar-Princess-of-Phoenicea-(FB)), but the names of most roses are…er…flowery. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/4 "2016-09-04T16:31:15Z")
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/5 "2016-09-04T16:36:44Z")
Indiana University- Purdue University Indiana ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/6 "2016-09-04T16:53:39Z")
Alaska USA Federal Credit Union. Do they really need USA in there? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/7 "2016-09-04T17:00:33Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Indiana University- Purdue University Indiana Or its even more confusing evil twin - Indiana University of Pennsylvania (unaffiliated with your example; it is simply located in Indiana, Pennsylvania). Anyone that wants to name a town, college or city after a much more well known place needs to step back and think about it a little more before they go any further. Yes, I am looking at you Miami University of Ohio and Manhattan, Kansas. All it does is cause endless confusion. The Rust Belt seems to be a particularly bad offender. They can’t just have normal names like Ohio State. Instead it has to be THE Ohio State University to try to convince you that this one is the real deal and not not of the many counterfeits trying to trick people. OTOH, dear little Rhode Island also tries to overcompensate for its tiny size with its name. “Rhode Island” is only the shortened form that almost everyone uses because the real name will not fit on a map and exhausts everyone that has ever attempted to use it in conversation. The full name of the state is “State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations”. I love Rhode Island to death but the one thing I have never seen there is “Providence Plantations”. We can’t leave the West Coast out of this abomination however. You know that really big city in California that you probably call Los Angeles. That isn’t its original name either. Like a parody of Spanish naming conventions, it has them all beat. Its original name is “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula”. In English, that translates to “town of our lady the Queen of Angels of Porciúncula”). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/8 "2016-09-04T17:46:28Z")
Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. Since when is lettuce a named sandwich ingredient? Of course just bacon and tomato raises the question of whether something was left out … like maybe a burger. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/9 "2016-09-04T17:58:50Z")
The French word for today is _aujourd’hui_. Etymologically it means “on the day of today.” The full name of the chemical company du Pont is E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Merrill Lynch changed its name many times over the years. At one point its full name was Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. Many financial services companies and banks seem to go overboard with combined names: Fifth Third Bank, RBC USA Holdco, etc. Lots of acronyms seem to lend themselves to redundancy: HIV virus, ATM machine, PIN number, SAT test, VIN number. There’s even a name for the condition: RAS syndrome (Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome). ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/10 "2016-09-04T18:00:01Z")
Hot water heater. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/11 "2016-09-04T18:04:17Z")
[Leaf-footed Plant Bug.](http://bugguide.net/node/view/156952/bgpage) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/12 "2016-09-04T19:10:38Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. Since when is lettuce a named sandwich ingredient? Of course just bacon and tomato raises the question of whether something was left out … like maybe a burger. I used to eat lettuce and mayo sandwiches when I was a kid. Then there’s the McDLT. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/13 "2016-09-04T19:53:23Z")
Master Chief Petty Officer ---
**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:** [September 4, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/14 "2016-09-04T20:09:13Z")
While we’re picking on universities … “THE Ohio State University” seems to have one too many words in it. While I lived in greater Saint Louis it became the style for pretentious McMansion suburbs to put extra trailer words on all the street names. e.g. In a 1960s subdivision it’d have been named “Elm Street”. In a pretentious new burb instead it would be “Elm Woods Place Drive”. If there was a cul de sac off of “Elm Woods Place Drive” it’d be “Elm Woods Place Court” or very occasionally “Elm Woods Place Drive Court.” Yes, really. It was painful. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/15 "2016-09-04T20:10:01Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Lots of acronyms seem to lend themselves to redundancy: HIV virus, ATM machine, PIN number, SAT test, VIN number. There’s even a name for the condition: RAS syndrome (Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome). DNC Convention looks like an example of this, but actually isn’t. Since the party is the Democratic National Committee. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/16 "2016-09-04T20:11:04Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Master Chief Petty Officer One step higher and you have Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/17 "2016-09-04T20:16:37Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Or its even more confusing evil twin - Indiana University of Pennsylvania (unaffiliated with your example; it is simply located in Indiana, Pennsylvania). Anyone that wants to name a town, college or city after a much more well known place needs to step back and think about it a little more before they go any further. Indiana, PA was named first. It took its name from the Indiana grant of 1768 and came before the unrelated US state in 1800. > **[Indiana County, Pennsylvania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_County,_Pennsylvania)** > > Indiana County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the west central part of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 83,246. Its county seat is Indiana. Indiana County comprises the Indiana, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-WV-OH Combined Statistical Area. The county is part of the Southwest Pennsylvania region of the state.\[a\] > Prior to the Revolutionary War, some settlers proposed thi... > [@](#): > > The proposed colony or part thereof was variously labelled on maps of the late 1700s as Indiana, Vandalia, Pittsylvania, or Westsylvania. This area was unrelated to and physically separated from the later named (1800), farther west Indiana Territory which became the State of Indiana. Indiana University of Pennsylvania is usually referred to by locals as I-UP. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/18 "2016-09-04T20:24:13Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Master Chief Petty Officer There are three grades: Chief, Senior Chief, and Master Chief. I suppose the latter could be shortened to “God”. The air force is even worse with Chief Master Sergeant: sounds like they couldn’t decide whether they’re AF or USN. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/19 "2016-09-04T20:35:13Z")
The University of Maryland University College. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016/20 "2016-09-04T20:35:42Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Indiana, PA was named first. It took its name from the Indiana grant of 1768 and came before the unrelated US state in 1800. > > [Indiana County, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_County,_Pennsylvania) Point taken but it is as confusing anything can be. My SIL (RIP) was a full professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and I have been there myself. Once you leave the immediate area everyone assumes that the residents are, in fact, referring to the state of Indiana. The conversations rival the classic “Who’s on first” and it gets irritating. Where do you you live? Pennsylvania Which part, I have an uncle from Philadelphia? Indiana I thought you just said that you lived in Pennsylvania I did Where? Indiana You can go on like that for hours. It makes everyone that lives there sound like a crazy person and they kind of are. You have to go to a bar to buy a six pack of beer for takeaway service and there are all these winding roads leading through old-school decaying mill towns built into the hills. Other states have duplicate name problems but I am certain that no one goes to Paris, Texas expecting great escargot. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-with-too-many-words-in-them/765016.md?page=2)