# Need examples of things that aren't what their name implies **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432 "2011-05-27T15:14:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/41 "2011-05-27T19:53:20Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Picadilly Circus (in London.. is circular, but ain’t no circus) [See definition 3.](http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/circus?view=uk) Picadilly Circus is far from the only example of this usage. > [@chappachula](#): > > Times Square (in NY—is a triangle) As I recall, it is more alke two triangles, joined at the points, like an hourglass. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/42 "2011-05-27T20:01:24Z")
Guinea pig? Not a pig, nor is it from Guinea. Mongoose? Not a goose. Bonus points for using polygoose as the plural. Telephone dial? But then, this is just a holdover term from when they actually were actual DIALS. However, Virginia Slims are actually slim, and made in Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/43 "2011-05-27T20:02:15Z")
Neither the New York Jets nor the New York Giants play in New York. And bald eagles are covered with feathers. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/44 "2011-05-27T20:04:26Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > (as sold by the muffin man, who lives down Drury Lane). Not any more he doesn’t. His neighborhood got yuppified and his old house is now a wine bar serving sandwiches with arugula and sun dried tomatoes, while he moved his family out to Chingford where he spends his days in a mock Tudor McMansion tutting over stories in the Daily Mail about immigration. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/45 "2011-05-27T20:11:19Z")
Earned Income Credit is not earned, nor is it Income, nor is it a Credit. (well, it’s sort of a credit, but it’s actually a payment as it’s refundable). Canadian Bacon. Not made in Canada, not particulary Canadian, and rarely made from Canadians.😃 **Duckster** - I despise that joke, as too many use it as an example of a oxymoron, while it is NOT a oxymoron at all. (it\* was \*funny- a long time ago when George Carlin used it) Jumbo Shrimp is a sort of oxymoron, due to the double meaning of 'shrimp". Something like “civil war”. True oxymorons include 'living dead", “new classic”, “old news”. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/46 "2011-05-27T20:21:14Z")
[Cecil did answer the driveway/parkway thing.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/410/why-do-we-drive-on-the-parkway-and-park-on-the-driveway) I’ll add Jerusalem artichokes. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/47 "2011-05-27T20:37:27Z")
A titmouse is a bird. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/48 "2011-05-27T20:39:48Z")
What about the whole “light cigarettes” debacle in the US? The FDA made companies stop referring to certain cigarettes as “light” because they felt that it made a false implication that those cigarettes were safer than non-“light” cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/49 "2011-05-27T21:11:56Z")
Compassionate Conservative ? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/50 "2011-05-27T21:18:08Z")
In American football, you don’t need to “touch” the ball “down” to score a touchdown. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/51 "2011-05-27T22:00:38Z")
Magpie has no relation to pie. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/52 "2011-05-27T22:05:51Z")
Blow job ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/53 "2011-05-29T03:41:57Z")
Moral Majority ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/54 "2011-05-29T04:01:16Z")
boxing rings are square not sure, but i heard greenland/iceland should be the other way around 100 years war didn’t last 100 years panama hats aren’t made in panama ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/55 "2011-05-29T04:05:45Z")
Naked Lunch ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/56 "2011-05-29T08:03:14Z")
For the list, I’ll add: Tempory insanity. I’ve known a few insane people, and I would gamble they’ve been like this all their lives. And that’s not a few number of years on an individual basis. (deleted rest of post - caught my own error. Oops.) ---
**Author:** ![Hairy\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecc23a/32.png) [@Hairy\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hairy_Bob)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/57 "2011-05-29T09:43:29Z")
I’ll just leave this here. [http://www.rathergood.com/nuts](http://www.rathergood.com/nuts) ---
**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:** [May 29, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/58 "2011-05-29T11:22:24Z")
Rhode Island Butterfly Ear of corn Head of lettuce Fingernail Hammer toes Beefsteak tomatoes ---
**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:** [May 29, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/59 "2011-05-29T11:44:06Z")
I’m not so sure peanuts are a good example of this. They are nuts in any reasonable culinary sense, and they are legumes - so it’s not unreasonable to call them peas (the term is already legitimately applied to a ragged assortment of other legumes, so why not this one?) ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432/60 "2011-05-29T12:50:58Z")
“Key West” is an approximate transliteration of “Bone Island” from French, so named for bones found there, and having nothing to do with its location. At least, IIRC. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-things-that-arent-what-their-name-implies/583432.md?page=4)