The new Perth Museum

In order to find a name for the new museum opening in Perth City Hall, city officials surveyed the public and considered over 450 ideas before deciding to call it "Perth Museum." bbc.com



This recalls the time, in 1973, when the Army Materiel Command (AMC) held a contest to name its new headquarters and, after considering 524 different proposals, awarded the prize to the guy who suggested calling it the AMC Building.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 11, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Museums, Odd Names

Kinki Nippon Tourist

The Kinki Nippon Tourist Co. was founded in 1947. By the 1970s it had become Japan's second-largest travel agency. But trouble began to emerge when, during this same decade, Japanese tourists showed up in Europe and America, often carrying bags emblazoned with the name "Kinki Nippon Tourist." Naturally, this attracted some attention.

London Daily Telegraph - Oct 25, 1972

Saffron Walden Weekly News - July 1, 1976

The name 'Kinki' referred, of course, to the Kinki region in the south of Japan. Also known as the Kansai region. It had nothing to do with the sexual preferences of the tourists. But in a possible case of truth in advertising, the Kinki Nippon Tourist Co. was, in fact, involved in a scandal in 1979 for having arranged sex tours abroad for Japanese businessmen.

Vineland Daily Journal - Nov 28, 1979

The company quickly learned what its name meant in English, so when it opened a branch in America in 1974 it didn't use the Kinki name. Instead, it called itself Kintetsu International Express (it's still in business).

Likewise, the name Kinki has become a problem for other organizations in the Kinki region that have an international presence. For instance, in 2016 Kinki University changed its name in English to Kindai University, in order to spare the staff and students embarrassment when they traveled abroad.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 10, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Odd Names, Asia, Mistranslations

Atomic Victory Trotter

Seems that everyone called him 'Mike' instead of 'Atomic Victory.' But even so, all his official documents must have had his name listed as 'Atomic Victory Trotter'.

Wilmington Morning News - Nov 17, 1945

Louisville Courier-Journal - Aug 14, 1953

Posted By: Alex - Sat Aug 06, 2022 - Comments (3)
Category: Odd Names, Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters, 1940s

What does your name smell like?

Henry Gray of Newcastle suffers from "lexical-gustatory synaesthesia," which means that he experiences people's names as smells or tastes. He says that the name 'Kirsty' smells of urine, and 'Duncan' is "like a bird dipped in smoky bacon crisps."

Makes me wonder what my name would smell like. I'm sure it's not anything good.

More info: Daily Mail

Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 05, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Odd Names, Smells and Odors

United States v. 350 Cartons of Canned Sardines

This case is known in legal circles primarily because of its odd name.

It occurred in 1934 and involved 350 cartons of canned sardines shipped from California to Pennsylvania. The FDA examined some of the cans at its lab in Washington DC and decided that they contained "decomposed animal substance." Therefore, it ordered all 350 cartons to be destroyed.

The sardine company challenged this order in court. It lost the initial case, but won on appeal. Though, by that time, two years later, the sardines may already have been destroyed.

As far as I can tell, the case represented a power struggle between the California inspectors (who had approved the fish for shipment) and the federal ones. The FDA's decision seems to have been somewhat arbitrary. Its inspector decided the fish were decomposed not because of how they smelled or tasted. He said they smelled fine. He concluded they were 'decomposed' simply because they looked slightly pink — which was probably because they had been cooked in tomato sauce.

Read more about the case here.

Case and Comment - Autumn 1934

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 13, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Odd Names, Lawsuits, 1930s

Mrs. Sparrow found a sparrow

1952: Mrs. Florence Sparrow found a sparrow in her loaf of bread.

Spokane Chronicle - Feb 29, 1952

Posted By: Alex - Fri Jun 17, 2022 - Comments (4)
Category: Food, Odd Names, 1950s

Travel through Europe in Ohio

If you want to visit Venice, Rome, Warsaw, Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam, or Vienna, there's no reason to leave the United States. In fact, one could visit all these places without going outside the borders of Ohio.

This is because Ohio has many cities and towns named after cities in Europe. Far more than any other U.S. state. You can find all the city names listed above in Ohio, plus many more. Think of a European city, and there's probably a town in Ohio with the same name.

Some people go on tours of European cities in Ohio, in lieu of actually going to Europe.

H2G2.com explains why Ohio has all these copycat names:


However, Ohioans have put their own unique stamp on many of these copycat names by pronouncing them differently. For instance, Milan, Ohio is pronounced "MY-lun". Some more Ohio pronunciations:

• Lima (LY-ma)
• Versailles (ver-SAILS)
• Moscow (MAHS koh)
• Russia (ROO she)
• Vienna (veye EH nuh)
• Berlin (BUR lynn)

More info: 20 Ohio Towns You're Probably Pronouncing Wrong

Posted By: Alex - Fri Mar 11, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Geography and Maps, Odd Names

The Other JFK

John Francis Kennedy served three terms as Treasurer of Massachusetts, from 1954 to 1960. He was legendary for putting almost no effort (or money) into campaigning. He made no speeches, nor did he advertise. He didn't even have any relevant experience for the job. Before becoming state treasurer he had been a stockroom supervisor at the Gillette Safety Razor Company.

By all accounts, the only reason for his political success was the resemblance of his name to John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

John Francis Kennedy probably would have kept running for state treasurer if he could have. But term limits prevented him. He tried running for governor in 1960 (while JFK was campaigning for President), but his winning streak finally ended.

More info: Commonwealth magazine, Our Campaigns

John Francis Kennedy

Miami News - May 22, 1960

Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 20, 2021 - Comments (4)
Category: Odd Names, Politics, 1950s

Portable Pig Launchers

In the pipe industry (that is, pipes through which things flow, not the pipes one smokes), 'pigs' are defined as inspection gauges that travel through pipes (see wikipedia).

This leads to some odd product names, such as Portable Pig Launchers, Bi-Directional Pigs, and Subsea Pig Trackers.

iNPIPE Products offers a full line of portable pig launchers.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 01, 2021 - Comments (7)
Category: Odd Names, Farming

Mr. Coke-Is-It

1985: Frederick Koch changed his name to "Coke-Is-It", saying that he was sick of people mispronouncing his name either Kotch or Cook. He was then promptly sued by Coca-Cola, since they had trademarked the phrase "Coke is it". Eventually a settlement was reached, allowing Mr. Coke-Is-It to keep using the name, as long as he didn't try to commercialize it.

Some digging revealed that Mr. Coke-Is-It was the father of the American skier Bill Koch, who was the first American to win a medal for skiing in international competition.

Argus Leader - Mar 15, 1985

Posted By: Alex - Tue May 11, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Odd Names, 1980s