# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/101 "2024-09-13T02:03:11Z")
The City of Hollywood renamed a number of roads which has Confederate names in 2017. [Hollywood eyes new street names: Freedom, Hope, Liberty would replace Forrest, Hood and Lee – Sun Sentinel](https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2017/10/18/hollywood-eyes-new-street-names-freedom-hope-liberty-would-replace-forrest-hood-and-lee/) ---
**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 13, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/102 "2024-09-13T13:32:18Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > How is a nickname not a name? If it was what people called it, that’s its name. It wasn’t official, but that’s true of any name of an unincorporated area. Well, when the nickname comes _after_ the regular name. If you ignore this fact then you can add “The Big Apple”, “The Big Easy”, “The Windy City”, and on and on to your list. ---
**Author:** ![Quondam\_Mechanic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quondam_mechanic/32/3404_2.png) [@Quondam\_Mechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quondam_Mechanic)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/103 "2024-09-13T15:01:03Z")
“The name of the song is called “HADDOCKS’ EYES.”’ ‘Oh, that’s the name of the song, is it?’ Alice said, trying to feel interested. ‘No, you don’t understand,’ the Knight said, looking a little vexed. ‘That’s what the name is CALLED. The name really IS “THE AGED AGED MAN.”’ ‘Then I ought to have said “That’s what the SONG is called”?’ Alice corrected herself. ‘No, you oughtn’t: that’s quite another thing! The SONG is called “WAYS AND MEANS”: but that’s only what it’s CALLED, you know!’ ‘Well, what IS the song, then?’ said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered. ‘I was coming to that,’ the Knight said. 'The song really IS “A-SITTING ON A GATE”: and the tune’s my own invention.” ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/104 "2024-09-14T15:13:48Z")
I’m sure that pissed off some good old boys. Good for Hollywood! ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2024, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/105 "2024-09-15T05:17:41Z")
Originally a college in North Texas was North Texas University. They had a radio station with call letters KNTU. The university then changed names to the University of North Texas, UNT. The radio station kept the old call letters. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2024, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/106 "2024-09-15T18:07:26Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Heh, reminds me of the baseball team ‘The Los Angeles Angels’, which, if entirely translated to English, would be ‘The The Angels Angels’. [Or](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-mar-26-me-name26-story.html), “The The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the River ‘Little Portion’ Angels” ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/107 "2024-09-15T20:49:06Z")
When I was in college (late 1980s), a rumor circulated that students at the University of British Colombia Vancouver had petitioned to re-name the school in honor of Spanish explorer Juan de Fuca. Supposedly, the regents had voted for the change, when they discovered that the students were not really interested in multiculturalism. They just wanted to wear t-shirts with “De Fuca U” on the chest. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/108 "2024-09-16T11:04:44Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > “The The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the River ‘Little Portion’ Angels” There are five River Avons in the UK: but given that in modern Welsh “Afon” (the f is pronounced like an English v) means "river’, it seems reasonable to assume the pre-Roman Celtic was much the same. So they’re River Rivers. And there’s [Torpenhow](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpenhow_Hill) ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/109 "2024-09-16T19:18:58Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Laura Nyro’s real name is Nigro. We had a guy in my grade 4 class last name Nigra - he had bright blond hair. > [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I’ve seen boxes of “Cod Chunks” in the freezer at the store. I guess “Cod Pieces” weren’t as appetizing. Old New Yorker cartoon where the ad company is having a meeting with all these posters and sample product packages labellled “Cod Pieces!”. The fellow at the hea of the table is saying, “Gentlemen, something has come to my attention that may make us rethink our advertising campaign…” ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/110 "2024-09-17T19:31:18Z")
Harvard has eight residential houses named after early college presidents. Except for Leonard Hoar. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2024, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/111 "2024-09-17T19:40:33Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Harvard has eight residential houses named after early college presidents. > > Except for Leonard Hoar. Science fiction author Ralph Milne Farley wrote _The Radio Man_ and numerous sequels, as well as other stuff. In real life, he was a politician – state senator and attorney general for Massachusetts. But “Ralph Milne Farley” was a pseudonym (Why “Ralph Milne Farley”? If that was my name, I’d be looking for pseudonym for _it_). His real name was **Roger Sherman Hoar** He came from, you should pardon the expression, a long line of Hoars. I don’t know if he’s related to Leonard, but the odds are strongly that he was: > [@](#): > > Hoar was the son of [Sherman Hoar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Hoar), grandson of former [US Attorney General](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Attorney_General) [Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebenezer_Rockwood_Hoar), great-grandson of [Samuel Hoar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Hoar), and great-great grandson of American founding father [Roger Sherman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Sherman), a signer of the [Declaration of Independence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence).[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Sherman_Hoar#cite_note-2) > **[Roger Sherman Hoar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Sherman_Hoar)** > > Roger Sherman Hoar (April 8, 1887 – October 10, 1963) was an American state senator and assistant Attorney General, for the state of Massachusetts. He wrote and published science fiction under the pseudonym of Ralph Milne Farley. > Hoar was the son of Sherman Hoar, grandson of former US Attorney General Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, great-grandson of Samuel Hoar, and great-great grandson of American founding father Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. > Born in Waltham, Massachuset... ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/112 "2024-09-17T19:45:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Science fiction author Philip K. Dick sometimes used the pseudonym (synonymous translation) Horselover Fat. Not sure which is better. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/113 "2024-09-20T14:09:45Z")
Mentioned in another thread, there’s a town on Long Island called East Northport which is due south of Northport; so named because South Northport would have sounded foolish. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2024, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/114 "2024-09-20T19:29:48Z")
I feel this counts because these people used aliases to bypass discrimination: James Tiptree Jr. real name Alice Sheldon Andre Norton real name Alice Norton. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/115 "2024-09-20T21:15:15Z")
George Eliot AKA Mary Ann Evans would be in that class as well. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/116 "2024-09-21T08:27:14Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > 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? Except that the country of Niger was part of French West Africa in colonial times, so its name was and is pronounced “nee-zhair” and not “ny-jur”. The adjective form is “Nigérien(ne)”. This is in contrast to the neighbouring country of Nigeria, which was not French in colonial times, and the first part of whose name is pronounced “ny-jeer”, a lot closer to “ny-jur”. The adjective form is “Nigerian”. Both were named after the Niger River, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/117 "2024-09-21T08:42:34Z")
> [@GoodZuckerbergs](#): > > … Similarly, KFC has re-defined their company acronym in recent years as “Kitchen Fresh Chicken” to distance their brand from both the word “fried” and a non-relatable (to a national or international customer base) Southern state designation. That’s news to me in Canada. KFC uses the initials, and also translates them into French as PFK, _Poulet frit à la Kentucky_ ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/118 "2024-09-21T08:52:07Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > That’s news to me in Canada. KFC uses the initials, and also translates them into French as PFK, _Poulet frit à la Kentucky_ Yes, but that’s only in Quebec. In the rest of English-speaking Canada, it’s KFC. “Kentucky Fried Chicken.” Sorry, Quebec. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/119 "2024-09-21T19:58:37Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Except that the country of Niger was part of French West Africa in colonial times, so its name was and is pronounced “nee-zhair” and not “ny-jur”. The adjective form is “Nigérien(ne)”. This site disagrees and says that the American pronunciation is “ny-jur”… > **[Niger | Pronunciation in English](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/niger#google_vignette)** > > Niger pronunciation. How to say Niger. Listen to the audio pronunciation in English. Learn more. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056/120 "2024-09-21T20:36:01Z")
Wikipedia says the river is called ([/ˈnaɪdʒər/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [_NY-jər_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key); [French](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language): _(le) fleuve Niger_ [[(lə) flœv niʒɛʁ]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/French)) and the country is called “in English… [/niːˈʒɛər/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English), while in some Anglophone media [/ˈnaɪdʒər/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) is also used” but I take it from the previous comments that the pronunciation or variations thereof were never an issue, just the (reasonable? unjustified?) fear by the sellers that > [@kayaker](#): > > IIUC the problem was in marketing niger seed when the word looked like another “n word”. some people might not know where the hell that is and might make mistaken associations with a different word? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-usual-name-is-a-no-go/1007056.md?page=7)