# Punny hair salon names: why so prevalent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 27, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987 "2010-05-27T20:10:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/21 "2010-05-28T09:37:34Z")
They’re named by hair dressers. How intelligent is somebody that would put a dress on hair. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/22 "2010-05-28T10:14:44Z")
> [@Leiko](#): > > Some pho shops have names like “What the Pho?” and “Pho King.” Pho, in this case, is pronounced “fuh.” [Submitted without further comment](http://www.phatphucnoodlebar.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/23 "2010-05-28T11:53:26Z")
On the subject of German punny names. The popular name for mobile/cell phones in Germany is “handy”. Munich railway station has a shop that sells “pre-owned” phones. And the name of this shop?- “Second Handy” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/24 "2010-05-28T12:00:25Z")
Around here it is auto body repair shops: Bump & Grind Auto Body Ground Zero Auto Body Paint Your Wagon auto body ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/25 "2010-05-28T12:05:10Z")
Salons probably try to cultivate a friendly and informal kind of atmosphere, so humor might help them develop that image. They don’t need to give themselves serious names like a law firm might because they don’t need to appear institutionalized and authoritative. You might expect hair stylists to be kind of quirky, so the names fit. Someday I hope to see an Asian restaurant called “Phuket, let’s get some Thai.” ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/26 "2010-05-28T12:11:02Z")
> [@bikergeek](#): > > (er, hi. long time lurker, first time poster here) > > There’s a demolition company in Cambridge, Mass., called “Edifice Wrecks”. I actually like this one! All others must be stopped. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/27 "2010-05-28T13:17:35Z")
My favorite is [Goo Gu Bumps](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2093/1857999021_3d038a8d89.jpg) salon on Lee Road in Cleveland. I drive by it every day. Don’t know what the hell it means, but – hey! (The marquee below reads “Hair Bumps.” ---
**Author:** ![LilGypsyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilGypsyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilGypsyGirl)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/28 "2010-05-28T13:44:58Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Salons probably try to cultivate a friendly and informal kind of atmosphere, so humor might help them develop that image. They don’t need to give themselves serious names like a law firm might because they don’t need to appear institutionalized and authoritative. You might expect hair stylists to be kind of quirky, so the names fit. > > Someday I hope to see an Asian restaurant called “Phuket, let’s get some Thai.” We (myself included) are a very quirky bunch. That being said, we also have irrationally large egos (myself included - it comes with the “arteest” part of hairstyling, I guess). The quirky salon owners give their shops the punny names, the egomaniacs name it after themselves. Although, where I live there are a few cool names (and hairdressers that work therein). We have Alchemy, Tabloid, and Copperhead - just off the top of MY head. Heh. 😃 I’m going to be over here thinking of a stupid name for my salon. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/29 "2010-05-28T13:55:37Z")
As for other kinds of shops which often have punning names, **tygre** ’s knitting hobby has exposed to all kinds of yarn shops with bad puns in their names. Most of these seem to revolve around some pun with “Ewe”: Embraceable Ewe, Have Ewe Any Wool, Double Ewe, Just For Ewe, Ewe & Me, etc. etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/30 "2010-05-28T15:03:39Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > As for other kinds of shops which often have punning names, **tygre** ’s knitting hobby has exposed to all kinds of yarn shops with bad puns in their names. Most of these seem to revolve around some pun with “Ewe”: Embraceable Ewe, Have Ewe Any Wool, Double Ewe, Just For Ewe, Ewe & Me, etc. etc. etc. The knitting shop **Mrs. Fear** frequents is called Knit Pickings. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/31 "2010-05-28T15:17:23Z")
> [@LilGypsyGirl](#): > > I’m going to be over here thinking of a stupid name for my salon. Hair’s wishing you luck. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/32 "2010-05-28T15:19:01Z")
There was an Afro-centric hair place I did marketing for in the early 80s that had a beauty salon, “cut heads,”\* started/maintained dreadlocks, and sold clothes made from Africa styled fabrics, etc. It was called “Knapps (Kuh-Naps).” - Reference is from Spike Lee’s movie, _Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop_. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/33 "2010-05-28T15:31:08Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Salons probably try to cultivate a friendly and informal kind of atmosphere, so humor might help them develop that image. They don’t need to give themselves serious names like a law firm might because they don’t need to appear institutionalized and authoritative. You might expect hair stylists to be kind of quirky, so the names fit. > > Someday I hope to see an Asian restaurant called “Phuket, let’s get some Thai.” I Can’t Believe It’s a Law Firm! /wishes that was real, not from The Simpsons ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/34 "2010-05-28T15:40:25Z")
Oh, sweet Jeebus! I totally misread the thread title and thought it said “Pussy hair salon names.” You’ve no idea the degrees of awe and horror that flashed through me. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/35 "2010-05-28T15:48:27Z")
> [@mkecane](#): > > I Can’t Believe It’s a Law Firm! > > /wishes that was real, not from The Simpsons I wish pretty much all the store names from The Simpsons were real. I would avoid shopping at most of them but the signs are priceless. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/36 "2010-05-28T16:02:31Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Wok 'N Roll, Wok this way, Wok on the Wild Side, Nin Com Soup, Thai Tanic, Thai Me Up, Thai the Knot, Peking Inn. What the Pho ETA: Drat. Too slow as always. Beau Thai? ---
**Author:** ![LilGypsyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilGypsyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilGypsyGirl)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/37 "2010-05-29T03:37:19Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Hair’s wishing you luck. Hey you - quit makin’ waves! _light bulb_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/38 "2010-05-29T04:27:06Z")
There’s a auto body shop around here called Wreck-a-Mended. (I really like Edifice Wrecks, though. That’s awesome.) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/39 "2010-05-29T04:45:33Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > one from my town: The Hair Port. > > I really detest pun names. I find them the last refuge of the unimaginative and it starts me thinking all those lovely stereotypes and prejudices about hair dressers and their intelligence level. I picture a 30 something with over dyed hair snapping her gum while she contemplates the next tortuous hair do she’ll get her hair salon buddy to do to her hair. The one that bugs me is business names that are just their street number. Cafe 229, Club 403, The 1700 Room, 223. At least punny names show some creativity. Now I’m seeing restaurants that are named after their intersection. Water Buffalo (on Water and Buffalo) Kil@Watt (on Kilborn and Water St). ---
**Author:** ![MsChilePepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MsChilePepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsChilePepper)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987/40 "2010-05-29T07:43:23Z")
[Wizards of Ooze Portable Restrooms](http://www.wizardsofooze.com/index.htm) is a Washington company. Some friends and I encountered their service at a festival once, and I have to say, whatever that blue stuff is they put in the holding tank, it smelled SO GOOD! Seriously, we kept smelling it while walking down the street. “Is that flowers?” “Maybe somebody’s selling candles or incense.” [“Nope, it’s the porta-potties,” said Alan.](http://mschile.brunchma.com/crapola/WizardsofOoze.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punny-hair-salon-names-why-so-prevalent/540987.md?page=3)