Quiz Guy John Chaneski tests our knowledge of Latin by way of brand awareness this week with a game about brands like Lego, which takes its name from Danish “leg godt,” meaning “play well.” As it happens, the Latin term lego might be loosely translated as “I put together.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Brand Names Word Quiz”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Martha Barnette.
And I’m Grant Barrett.
And who is that handsome man?
Why, it’s John Chaneski, our quiz guy.
John.
Hi, John.
Hey, it’s me.
Hi, Grant.
What’s up, buddy?
How you doing?
What’s going on in New York City?
Well, you know, not many people know this, but right now you can’t see me and I can’t see you.
Correct.
Right?
However, if we did need to see each other while we communicated, we could use a peer-to-peer system that allows video conferencing through the sky.
Sky Peer to Peer is the original source of the name Skype.
Sky Peer to Peer.
Okay.
Good.
Now, there are some great stories behind brand names, and your knowledge of language should help you figure out which brand names I’m looking for from the following clues.
Okay.
Okay.
This footwear company took its name from the Greek goddess of victory, and it seems all you have to do to win is wear their sneakers and just do it.
Nike.
Nike, right.
In a Nikkei, yes.
Nikkei, very good.
The Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company changed its name to this when it began to develop innovative products.
Like Post-its, yep.
Like 3M, like Post-its.
Minnesota Mining, Manufacturing, those are the 3Ms in 3M.
Yep.
These places are almost never closed, but you wouldn’t know it from their brand name, which advertises the hours they were opened in 1946.
Oh, 7-Eleven.
That’s right, 7-Eleven.
Oh, very good.
They were open from 7 to 11.
This beverage is simply derived from the names of the leaves and nuts used to flavor it.
Oh, Coca-Cola.
Right.
Coca leaves and cola nuts.
When the owner of the Echo Bay Technology Group attempted to register a website for his new pet project, he found that a gold mining company already took echobay.com, so he just shortened it to this.
EBay.
EBay, right.
So if anybody asks you what the E stands for in eBay, it’s Echo.
That’s funny because you would assume it means electronic, right?
Yeah.
Right.
No.
Yeah, like E-bay or something.
An employee of NCR, or National Cash Register, started his own company to make machines for business.
He decided to one-up his former employers, so he chose this name.
IBM.
IBM.
Now, how is that one-upping National Cash Register?
Because each letter is one letter higher in the alphabet.
No.
You’re thinking of PAL.
Oh, that’s right.
IBM.
No, but what does IBM stand for?
International Business Machines.
Oh, so international.
He’s like, oh, wow.
Yeah, national.
I’m going to go one more than those guys.
And the next one’s universal.
Interstellar Business Machines.
The Danish words for play well were combined to make the brand name of this popular toy.
It’s just a coincidence that the name is also Latin for I put together.
Lego.
Lego.
From Leggut.
Very good.
Martin Bromley started a company to import pinball machines to Japan for use on military bases.
Now, this Service Games of Japan company morphed into a brand renowned for video games.
Sega?
Sega, yes, very good.
Service Games, nice.
Headhug.
That’s right, there you go.
This Japanese electronics brand is derived from the Latin word for sound and an American slang term for a bright youngster.
Sony.
Sony, right.
Yeah, from Soan and Sunny.
Sony, very good.
Now, this is easily the most famous brand named after a character in Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick.
Oh, I have no idea, actually.
What?
No, come on.
Wee Quig.
Ahab.
Ahab.
Ahab, almost there.
Ahab’s Harpoons.
Moby.
How about Moby?
What’s the company?
What is the company?
Yeah.
You want the answer?
I can tell you their field.
Oh, no.
What kind of company is it?
What industry?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
They sell coffee.
Lots and lots of coffee.
Starbucks, duh.
Starbucks is great.
That’s it.
Perfect.
Oh, that was hard.
It’s been such a long time.
I know, right?
Well, I saved the hard one for last, and that was it, guys.
You were great.
Oh, okay.
Wow.
Okay, good.
Thanks, John.
We’ll talk to you next week.
Okay, bye-bye.
Talk to you next week.
Bye, Greg.
Bye, Martha.
If you want to talk about any aspect of language whatsoever, call us, 877-929-9673, or send us an email.
The address is words@waywordradio.org, and you can always find us on Facebook and Twitter.
