We have the inside scoop on the etymology behind these super successful enterprises!

我们挖到了这些超级成功的企业取名时的一些小轶闻。

 

Lego

乐高

The toy company name combines the Danish words “leg got” or “play well,” according to business .

根据business insider网站的消息,这家玩具公司的名称是将丹麦语中两个单词 “ leg ”和 “ got ”拼起来组成的,意思是“好好玩”。

 

IKEA

宜家

Ingvar Kamprad, a 17-year-old Swede, founded the company in 1943 with money his father gave him for doing well in school.

Ingvar Kamprad于1943年成立了宜家,当时他还是一个17岁的瑞典男孩,创业基金来自于他父亲因他在学校的良好表现所给的奖励。

The teenage retail titan-to-be formed the name of his company—which originally sold pens, wallets, picture frames, table runners, watches, jewelry, and nylon stockings at reduced prices—from his initials (I.K.), plus the first letters of Elmtaryd (E) and Agunnaryd (A), the farm and village where he grew up.

这个未来的零售业大亨给这家公司起了现在这个名字,当时宜家还在靠卖打折铅笔、钱包、相框、桌布、手表珠宝和尼龙袜起家。“IKEA(宜家)”这个名字由他名字的首字母I.K.,加上Elmtaryd和Agunnaryd的首字母组成,这是他长大成人的农场和村庄。

As for those crazy product names, turns out they follow a system. According to an article in the Guardian, because Kamprad is dyslexic, he found that naming products with proper names and words made them easier to identify.

至于那些奇奇怪怪的产品名,实际上有一个专门的系统。根据英国《卫报》的一篇文章介绍,因为Kamprad本人有读写困难症,所以他发现给产品取一个专门的独特名称有利于帮助记忆。

Sofas, coffee tables, bookshelves, media storage, and doorknobs are named after places in Sweden (Klippan, Malmö); beds, wardrobes, and hall furniture after places in Norway; carpets after places in Denmark, and dining tables and chairs after places in Finland. Bookcases are mainly occupations (Bonde, peasant farmer; Styrman, helmsman). Bathroom stuff is named after lakes and rivers.

沙发、咖啡桌、书架、媒体储物柜和门把手都以瑞典的地名命名,例如“Klippan”和“Malmö”。而床、衣柜和客厅的家具都主要以挪威地名来命名;地毯则以丹麦地名命名;餐桌和椅子采用的是芬兰的地名。而书柜则主要是一些职业名称,例如“Bonde”意思是“农民”,“Styrman”意思是“舵手”。浴室用品会以湖泊和河流的名称命名。

 

Pepsi-Cola

百事可乐

Invented in 1893 by drugstore owner Caleb Davis Bradham, the beverage—made from a mix of sugar, water, caramel, lemon oil, nutmeg, and other natural ingredients—was originally called “Brad’s Drink,” according to the company website.

百事可乐最初是由一名药店老板Caleb Davis Bradham于1893年发明的,这个饮料混合了糖、水、焦糖、柠檬油、肉豆蔻和其他天然材料。据该公司的网站称,最开始这被称为“Brad牌饮料”。

But because Bradham saw the drink less as a refreshment and more as a healthy cola that could aid in digestion, he renamed it five years later, using the word “dyspepsia,” which means indigestion, as its root.

但因为Bradham很少将它视为休闲饮品,而是作为一款能够帮助消化的健康可乐。因此他在五年后给它改了名字,借用了“dyspepsia”(消化不良)一词。

 

Google

谷歌

The internet giant takes its name from “googol,” the mathematical term for the number 1 followed by 100 zeros, reports business.

根据business insider网站的消息,这个互联网巨头的名字取自一个数学术语“googol”,指的是1后面跟100个0。

 

Lancôme

兰蔻

The beauty behemoth was named after the ruins of a castle, Le Château de Lancosme, that the founder visited while on vacation in the French countryside. His inspiration for the company symbol, a rose, was the many wild roses growing around the castle.

这个美妆巨头的名称来自于当时兰蔻创始人在法国乡村度假时参观的一座城堡遗迹——Le Château de Lancosme(兰蔻城堡)。而品牌玫瑰花形状的商标,创意是来自于当时兰蔻城堡周围长的许多野玫瑰。