# Punny company names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 11, 2005, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372 "2005-05-11T10:01:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/1 "2005-05-11T10:01:29Z")
My two favourite punny company names are **Volvo** and **Audi**. **Volvo** is Latin for “I roll” which is a perfect name for a car manufacturer. 😃 **Audi** is a little more convoluted. The company was originally named **A. Horch & Cie.** after its founder August Horch. “Horch” is also the German word for “listen” (imperative). The Latin imperative for “listen” happens to be “audi”. On another note: the four rings of the Audi logo represent the four companies that form today’s Audi company. They are **DKW** , **Horch** , **Wanderer** and **NSU**. Does anyone else have any nice examples of punny company names? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/2 "2005-05-11T10:15:29Z")
It’s not exactly punny, but old US Robotics, that made the best modems? That was named after US Robotics and Mechanical Men, from the old Asimov stories. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/3 "2005-05-11T13:40:04Z")
You get Volvo and Audi, but miss **Yugo**? ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/4 "2005-05-11T14:22:09Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > You get Volvo and Audi, but miss **Yugo**? :smack: I need more coffee ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/5 "2005-05-11T14:30:05Z")
Don’t know if this qualifies as punny but… Many people think that the company **ADIDAS** is an acronym for “All Day I Dream About Sports” or if you heard in elementary school “All Day I Dream About Sex”. However, it is actually short for the founders name **Adolf “Adi” Dassler.** ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/6 "2005-05-11T14:50:44Z")
Years ago, when I was working in New York City, over on Varick Street, every morning on my way to the job I’d pass the “Ample Supply Company.” Always cracked me up. Wonder if they’re still around, or if they ran out, or what. your humble TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/7 "2005-05-11T14:53:11Z")
A former boss of mine is a lesbian who runs a construction company on the side. She is a rather large, solid woman (think “refridgerator” and you’ve just about got it). Her company name: Broad Ass Construction ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/8 "2005-05-11T15:33:18Z")
Chevy Nova. “No va” in Spanish means, “It doesn’t go.” ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/9 "2005-05-11T15:45:12Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Chevy Nova. > > “No va” in Spanish means, “It doesn’t go.” Who in Brazil would admit to driving a Ford Pinto? Ford couldn’t understand why its new model wasn’t selling well in Brazil, until someone let them know that “pinto” in Portuguese means “small male genitals.” 😃 Adam ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/10 "2005-05-11T15:46:37Z")
Bah! I just wrote that post. It certainly pays to check and see who you’re logged in as first. :smack: Adam ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/11 "2005-05-11T15:47:47Z")
Near Porter Square in Cambridge, MA is **Long Funeral Service** I’m sure it’s not intentional, and I’m sure the Long family is respectable, but I wouldn’t want to bore my friends there after my passing. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/12 "2005-05-11T15:47:51Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > “pinto” in Portuguese means “small male genitals.” 😃 It also means “chick”, as in baby chicken. I don’t know if I’d rather be seen driving around in a small dick or a small cock. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/13 "2005-05-11T15:54:45Z")
Dyke’s Lumber in Westchester. I suspect it’s just someone’s name, but it always gives me a chuckle. As does passing this old dump truck on… whosey. One of the highways to CT. It has a giant embossed HI-HO on the side. That means something. Means it was owned by someone else back in the 60s or 70s. You see, back then there was a construction company named Derryo… ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/14 "2005-05-11T16:41:47Z")
There’s a Ewing Oil company based in Maryland. I always suspected it was a deliberate hommage. ---
**Author:** ![aquadave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9d8465/32.png) [@aquadave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aquadave)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/15 "2005-05-11T17:18:39Z")
There’s a company that I pass occasionally. Not sure what they sell, but the front of the building says… Dick Power - the Tool Man ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/16 "2005-05-11T17:26:55Z")
> [@](#): > > As does passing this old dump truck on… whosey. One of the highways to CT. It has a giant embossed HI-HO on the side. That means something. Means it was owned by someone else back in the 60s or 70s. You see, back then there was a construction company named Derryo… There’s a Hotel Hi Ho right next to Route 15/Merritt Parkway in Connecticut. I see it every time I drive down to N.J. I’ve always wondered if Kurt Vonnegut used to drive by there before he wrote **Slapstick**. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/17 "2005-05-11T17:43:24Z")
It’s not a pun or anything, but every time I see the sign on top of the **Borg Warner** building in Chicago, I hear in my mind: “Pwepawe to be assimiwated, wabbit!” ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/18 "2005-05-11T18:33:10Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Chevy Nova. > > “No va” in Spanish means, “It doesn’t go.” But not in the sense that a car “goes”. > **[FACT CHECK: Did the Chevrolet Nova Fail to Sell in Spanish-Speaking Countries?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chevrolet-nova-name-spanish/)** > > Classic business legend holds that the Chevrolet Nova sold poorly in Spanish-speaking countries because of a translation snafu. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/19 "2005-05-11T18:36:33Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Near Porter Square in Cambridge, MA is Downtown there is a furniture store called Paine Furniture. Doesn’t sound comfy to me. In Jamaica Plain there is a bicycle store owned by a man named Jeffrey Ferris. Guess what the store is called? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372/20 "2005-05-11T18:38:10Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > But not in the sense that a car “goes”. Thanks for saving me the trouble of linking, **Lib**. Your response was no table. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-company-names/303372.md?page=2)