# When the usual name is a no-go **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2024, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056 "2024-09-10T12:52:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/1 "2024-09-10T12:52:58Z")
I’m looking for examples of objects, places, etc. that would have normally been given a certain name, except that the name in question would have sounded too silly or awkward. Two that spring to mind: - The Super Bowl is usually assigned a roman numeral, but the 50th one was named “Super Bowl 50” - both because the asymmetrical letter L was difficult to incorporate into branding logos, and also because it evoked the “loser” hand gesture. - In New York City, the only bridge not officially known as a “bridge” is the Outerbridge Crossing, named for businessman Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge. By all accounts, the crossing was so named to avoid having to call it the “Outerbridge Bridge.” ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/2 "2024-09-10T14:08:39Z")
The Detroit River isn’t actually a river, its the straights between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/3 "2024-09-10T14:13:58Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > The Detroit River isn’t actually a river, it’s the straights between Lake Huron and Lake Erie.   I’m wondering what definition of river you’re using that makes it not a river. Edited to add: but it still qualifies for this thread because to call it the “Detroit Strait” is repetitive. (The French word for “strait” is “détroit”.) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/4 "2024-09-10T14:14:26Z")
Same for the East River of NYC. > **[East River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_River)** > > The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, with the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, from Manhattan Island, and from the Bronx on the North American mainland. > Because of its connection to Long Island Sound, it was once also known as the Sound River. The tidal strait changes its direction of flow ... [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Wpdms_terra_east_river.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Wpdms_terra_east_river.jpg) * * * * * * @Q.Q.Switcheroo, not that I ever thought about it, but I never knew that about the Outerbridge. Staten Island to New Jersey. I used it just last month. Named for the Port Authority’s first chairman. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/5 "2024-09-10T14:29:50Z")
does food count? There are food items where the actual name sounds too unappealing, so they are given a nickname. Example: “rocky mountain oysters” ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/6 "2024-09-10T14:43:25Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > There are food items where the actual name sounds too unappealing, so they are given a nickname. _Rapeseed oil has entered the chat_ Hi, I’m Canola, from Canada! ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/7 "2024-09-10T14:48:03Z")
Same for the Rio de la Plata (River Plate) > **[Río de la Plata](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%ADo_de_la_Plata)** > > 27,225 m3/s (961,400 cu ft/s) > 22,000 m3/s (780,000 cu ft/s) > The Río de la Plata (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Spanish pronunciation: \[ˈri.o ðe la ˈplata\] ⓘ; lit. 'River of Silver'), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta ... A legend my father told me is that everybody knew it wasn’t a river but after a short war with France and Britain it was agreed that British and French ships could freely trade in the seas but not in the rivers, so everybody continued the fiction that it was a river. (This is of course false but _se non è vero, è ben trovato_) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/8 "2024-09-10T14:49:40Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > _Rapeseed oil has entered the chat_ > Hi, I’m Canola, from Canada! Technically, they are two different products. Or, rather, canola is a type of low-acid rapeseed oil, but regular rapeseed oil isn’t canola. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/9 "2024-09-10T14:53:29Z")
Well, “low erucic acid rapeseed oil” fails to roll off the tongue, and also, “rape”. (Even if it’s not that kind of rape.) “Canola” is definitely in the vein of “less yucky for a food product”. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/10 "2024-09-10T14:59:13Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > …to call it the “Detroit Strait” is repetitive. (The French word for “strait” is “détroit”.) Heh, reminds me of the baseball team ‘The Los Angeles Angels’, which, if entirely translated to English, would be ‘The The Angels Angels’. I mentioned that in another thread, and someone pointed out that ‘The La Brea Tar Pits’ if translated would read ‘The The Tar Tar Pits’. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/11 "2024-09-10T15:13:39Z")
In the 60s, a bird seed for finches was sold. It was _Guizotia abyssinica_, but the common name was niger. The seed name niger was a problem. Sometimes it was marketed as thistle, but it isn’t thistle. A bird seed company renamed/rebranded the seed Nyjer (always capitalized). ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/12 "2024-09-10T15:26:57Z")
Never heard of those seeds, but by that date there was a newly-minted republic of 25 million people, which would have been in the news, so the name couldn’t have been a problem? ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/13 "2024-09-10T15:36:49Z")
Some street names are just weird. I always wonder what civic planners were thinking when they named them. For instance, our town has a Dawoody St. If you’re looking at houses, do you really want to live on Dawoody Street? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/14 "2024-09-10T15:41:39Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > For instance, our town has a Dawoody St. Almost certainly based on the [Arabic name,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawood) possibly a person of some prominence at that time and in that place. It takes a modicum of sophistication to distinguish between “weird” and “exotic”. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/15 "2024-09-10T15:43:25Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > there was a newly-minted republic of 25 million people, which would have been in the news, so the name couldn’t have been a problem? IIUC the problem was in marketing niger seed when the word looked like another “n word”. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/16 "2024-09-10T15:44:35Z")
Careful. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/17 "2024-09-10T15:46:06Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > our town has a Dawoody St. If you’re looking at houses, do you really want to live on Dawoody Street? I know a guy with the last name Woody. I once asked him if kids teased him about his name growing up. He told me they did, they’d call him Homo (his first name is Homer, which I totally missed as being problematic). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/18 "2024-09-10T15:46:34Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Careful. I tread lightly. I think. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/19 "2024-09-10T15:49:49Z")
Reminder, we’re in #Factual Questions not #Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/20 "2024-09-10T15:50:59Z")
The Peanut. It’s not a _pea_ or a _nut_. It’s a legume, which the pea is, as well. 😳 (Why is _The Peanuts Gang_ called that? BTW) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056.md?page=2)