27 Head-Scratching Reasons For The Names Of Common Stuff

A disturbing number of things are named after organs.
27 Head-Scratching Reasons For The Names Of Common Stuff

Cracked pays people to make smart memes. Visit the Photoplasty and Pictofacts Workshop to get in on it.

Bengen720 recently told us that biologists are incredibly childish when it comes to naming things, and will seize every possible opportunity to name a discovery after a penis. So figured that it can't just be scientists who are like that, right? We mean, we don't get to choose our names so naming something else is the perfect opportunity to show the world how smart and creative we are. No one is going to miss such an oppurtunity, even if he is not a biologist.  So we asked readers to dig into funny, bizarre stories behind the names of pretty much anything in the world. And they did not disappoint - from Avocado to video games and all the wat to eBay, things were really named for unbelievably stupid reasons.    

Here's what our users found, enjoy. 

Avocado in Spanish is Aguacate, which comes from the Nahuatl word 'ahuacatl', which in turn, means testicles. So, uh, tree testicles anyone? CRAGKED
Mario was named after a landlord who berated the president of Nintendo for not CRAGh paying overdue rent. 1UP HIGH SCORE 2UP 000600 4 L=01 MELP! BONLS
Geneticists have quite the sense of humor. Researchers discovered a mutated gene that causes fly genitalia to remain inside the body. It was appropria
There is a small historic village in Dorset, listed in England's famed Domesday Book as Scatera, or Scatra, which meant small town by a sewer's r
A heart condition called Takotsubo cardiomyopathyi is named for the unusual shape of the human heart in this condition. Takotsubo is a Japanese word m
B: BlackBerry. is named for the way its keyboard looks. BlackBery The creators of the device thought its keyboard somewhat resembled the skin of a fru
When scientists discovered a new species of frog that makes a noise similar to a bat, they CRAUN couldn't resist naming it Dendropsophus ozzyi... afte
PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS is named after the Pixar Image Computer, which was named by combining pixels and sounding vaguely like a Spanish verb. CRA
CRACKED C CON The name LEGO derives from an abbreviation of two Danish words which, translated, mean play well.
ebay was originally called Echo Bay Technology. Founder Pierre omidyar shortened the name to EBay after he went to register echobay.com and found th
CRACKED COM ELEVEN In 1946, Tote'm Stores changed their name to 7-Eleven to emphasize their new, extended work hours.
Steve Jobs came up with the name Apple Computer, Inc. because he was on diet. a fruitarian He had just returned from an apple farm, and thought the wo
Google has its name because of a spelling mistake. Google TM It was supposed to be called googol, which is a word for an absurdly large number, but

Lake Disappointment

CRACKED COM Explorer Frank Hugh Hann followed some creeks while in Western Australia. He had high expectations of finding a freshwater lake. LAKE DISA
There is a pheromone in mouse urine named Darcin. Discovered by the University of Liverpool, they named it after Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice cha
XBOX Initially, the marketing team hated the name, SO they came up with an entire list of names they thought were better. They did decide to leave XB
In 1930 on the way to pitch his idea for the next best American snack cake, Jimmy Dewar sawa billboard for Twinkle Toe Shoes and thus the Twinkie ch
When Zulis and Bert Bell needed a sign for their Texas general store, they had a painter make them a sign decorated with two bells. To make sure peopl
Chicken, Alaska was So named because the original settlers couldn't agree on how to spell the town's original name. Originally, they wanted to name th
Wirgin CRACKEDOON According to the company website, Virgin was named to reflect the business experience Richard Branson and his associates had when st
The protein that makes vampire bats' saliva act as an anticoagulant is called Draculin. CRACKED
Crafts enthusiast Rob Kalin 6 was watching Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, and the characters kept saying II Etsi Italian): 22 O0I3H in yes (Oh, Kalin was

Principal Skinner

Principal Skinner was named after a psychologist rumored to have used his own kids as lab rats. CRACKED CO
CRAGKEDOON PLANO, TEXAS, A LARGE DALLAS SUBURB, GOT ITS NAME BECAUSE city of plano HAIL SOMEONE THOUGHT PLANO WAS SPANISH FOR PLAIN
While trying to find the right name for his new coffeehouse chain, Gordon Bowker was told that words starting with ST were powerful. When he happe
Vanilla comes from vagina. CRACKED.COM Vagina means sheath in Latin, and that's what vanilla pods look like.
The idea for The Beatles' legendary concept album SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND sprang from Beatles roadie Mal Evans asking Paul McCartney to
Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

VIRAL ON CRACKED

A WEEKLY
NEWSLETTER OF
JOKES + TRIVIA

Forgot Password?