Do you have a favorite weird brand name?

Did you ever wonder what Häagen-Dazs means? 10 odd brands explained

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Some brand names are more straightforward than others. Some are named after their founders or places of origin, some are a description of their products, and others are simply words that sounded right to the people who created them. The following 10 are examples of brand names that, when taken out of their context, sound simply odd. What does Haribo mean? And what about Garmin? These words, now ubiquitous, don’t seem to describe the product they represent but still, are part of our daily lives. Did you know any of their stories?

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An unusual name when it was presented and now, Yahoo! comes from the book "Gulliver’s Travels" where the word was used to refer to unsophisticated youths. Of course, the founders weren’t trying to define its users this way, they just liked how the name sounded, particularly with the added exclamation mark.

While this name is certainly odd, it’s memorable and rolls easily off the tongue, making it a good choice for a tech brand. And, like all the following entries on this list, has become a household word, making it much more acceptable to everyone.

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Kodak is an example of a made-up name that doesn’t appear to have a lot of meaning at first glance. When coming up with the brand name, George Eastman, the founder, concentrated a lot of his attention on the letter "K", which he considered to be a particularly strong-sounding one.

As he said: "I devised the name myself. It became a question of trying out a great number of combinations of letters that made words start and end with 'K.' The word 'Kodak' is the result." Eastman also selected Kodak's distinctive yellow trade dress, which is widely known throughout the world.

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Reebok has a weird name for a sports-focused brand. According to the company, the name comes from the word "Rhebok", which is a kind of African antelope. The founders liked the word, which they found in a South African dictionary, and felt it was a compelling term to use for their own business. After a slight wording change, the now-famous brand was born.

Since the antelope is a creature often connected with speed, it makes a lot of sense for an athletics brand. Since then, the word has been showcased everywhere.

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Xerox is a strange word, and it sounds unusual when spoken out loud. But, there’s some deeper meaning to this title. It means "dry writing" when translated from Greek and refers to the unique process of printing created by the Xerox company.

As it turns out, Joseph C. Wilson, who is credited as the "founder of Xerox", was looking for a term to differentiate its new system, hired a Greek scholar at Ohio State University, and coined the term xerography, which in turn, became the root of the name we now today.

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At first, Twitter was going to be called "Twitch" and then "Status." But neither of those names seemed to fit the bill. After consulting the Thesaurus, the founder, Jack Dorsey, and his team came up with the name "Twitter," meaning a short statement of inconsequential content, never imagining that sitting US presidents would one day use his app as a political platform.

After the company exchanged hands, the name was changed to "X" but most people still refer to it by its old name and even call the postings, "twits".

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Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder, wanted the name "Cadabra" for his online bookstore, as in Abracadabra. But when his lawyer heard the name and said that it reminded him of cadaver, the term was shelved. After that, Bezos decided to go with Amazon because words that began with the letter "A" were the first to appear in the old internet directories. And, apparently, he liked the word "Amazon".

It might seem hard to believe that the behemoth company that Amazon is today started on such a whimsical note, but it did.

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A portmanteau is a word blending the sounds and combining the meanings of two others, like "motel", which is the combination of mobile and hotel, or brunch, which combines breakfast and lunch. Well, the story of Garmin’s name is somewhere along those lines.

This popular GPS brand’s name is a portmanteau that combines the names of the two company’s founders: Gary Burrell and Dr. Min Kao (Gar-min). It might sound like a bit of a lazy strategy for naming such an important company but, in the end, it worked.

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The second portmanteau on this list corresponds to another odd name: Haribo. One of the world’s best-known sweets brand’s name is a mash-up between the company’s founder and its headquarters. Hans Riegel is the man who founded the company and Bonn is Haribo’s hometown.

Some people even go as far as saying that the name reminds them of an Asian confectionery of some kind, but, as we know now, its origins are very much European because there are not many names as German as Hans, right?

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The third and final portmanteau on this list corresponds to another hugely popular company that manufactures the beloved Oreo cookies. The National Biscuit Company transformed its name into a mash-up of its old name: Na-Bis-Co.

The first use of the name Nabisco was in a cracker brand produced by the National Biscuit Company in 1901 and maybe it is because we have heard and read this name so much and it has become a household word but Nabisco does sound like a cookie or at least, a food company, doesn’t it?

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As it is common knowledge, Europeans make great ice cream. Therefore, a complicated and European-sounding name can be aptly associated with delicious ice cream, right? Reuben and Rose Mattus thought exactly that in the 1960s, as they wanted their business name to convey an aura of tradition and craftsmanship.

Häagen-Dazs is an invented pseudo-Scandinavian phrase coined in a quest for a brand name that sounded Danish. However, the company's pronunciation of the name ignores the letters "ä" and "s", and letters like "ä" or digraphs like "zs" do not exist in the Danish language.

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In The Shadows: 10 True Tales of Real-Life Spies

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Although we often envision spies as James Bond-esque figures, the reality is that spycraft is as old as humanity itself, with real-life spies coming from incredibly diverse backgrounds and walks of life.

From ancient times to modern-day, these secretive professionals have employed cunning, bravery, and sometimes sheer luck to achieve their complex and often dangerous missions. Here we gathered ten incredible true tales of spies who left their mark on history.

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Often recognized as America’s first spy, Nathan Hale was a young patriot who volunteered for a dangerous intelligence-gathering mission behind British lines during the Revolutionary War in 1776. Despite all precautions, he was recognized by a British officer who tricked him into confessing his allegiance by pretending to be a Patriot himself.

He was captured and promptly hanged as an illegal combatant, but his last words, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country," were remembered long after his death and immortalized his bravery.

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Mata Hari was a Dutch exotic dancer who charmed her way into the highest echelons of European society during World War I. When her lover was wounded in the French service, she was only allowed to visit him, as a citizen of a neutral country, after agreeing to spy for the French. Her main mission involved seducing the eldest son of the German Kaiser, whom the French believed had access to military secrets.

However, when it became evident that the young prince did not have any valuable information, Mata Hari was accused of being a double agent working for the Germans and was executed by firing squad in 1917. Despite her tragic story, she became an inspiration for the figure of the femme fatale and has been depicted in countless books and films.

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Richard Sorge, a German journalist and Soviet spy, infiltrated Nazi Germany and Japan during World War II. Operating under the codename "Ramsay," his intelligence was crucial in undermining both Japanese and German efforts.

Sorge managed to evade suspicion for several years, even befriending high-ranking Gestapo officers such as Josef Albert Meisinger, known as the "Butcher of Warsaw," securing vital intelligence in the process. His work is often credited with aiding the Soviet victory at the Battle of Moscow. Despite his efforts, the Japanese secret police eventually caught up with him, and he was captured and executed by the Japanese in 1944.

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Virginia Hall was one of the most effective Allied spies in Nazi-occupied France. Posing as a journalist for the New York Post, she organized resistance movements and provided critical intelligence. Recognizable by her prosthetic leg, she soon was labeled "the most dangerous of all Allied spies" by the Gestapo.

Hall became an expert at support operations, organizing resistance movements, and supplying agents with money and weapons. She fled France in November 1942 to avoid capture by the Germans. After World War II, Hall worked for the Special Activities Division of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), continuing her legacy of service and espionage.

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Sir Francis Walsingham, the spymaster for Queen Elizabeth I, created an extensive espionage network to protect England from Catholic plots and foreign invasions. His efforts thwarted numerous assassination attempts on the queen, securing Protestant England's future.

Walsingham set up an extensive intelligence network with an unusually wide reach for the time, employing informers, forgers, and cryptography specialists to intercept messages without detection. He even invested large sums of his own money to expand his reach and ensure Elizabethan England's security.

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Before she became a famous chef and television personality, Julia Child worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. Though her work didn’t involve direct espionage, her role was crucial to the safety of Allied operations.

As part of the Emergency Sea Rescue Equipment Section, she helped develop a shark repellent to protect underwater explosives, an experience she later claimed was her "first foray into the world of cooking." Interestingly, the resulting product is still in use today.

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During his professional baseball career, Moe Berg was already described as "the strangest man ever to play baseball." Fluent in multiple languages and knowledgeable in philology and the history of Europe and the Far East, he regularly appeared on quiz shows, dazzling audiences with his wits.

After his rather lackluster MLB career ended, and with the onset of WWII, Berg began working for the U.S. government as a spy. He gathered intelligence on Nazi Germany’s atomic bomb program, undertaking missions that included traveling to Yugoslavia and Italy to assess the progress of enemy scientists.

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Harriet Tubman, famous for her role in the Underground Railroad, also served as a spy for the Union Army during the Civil War. She organized and led espionage and scouting missions in the South, gathering crucial intelligence that bolstered the Union war effort.

Tubman's bravery and leadership significantly impacted the course of the war, and some even recognize her as the first woman to lead U.S. troops in an armed assault. She firmly believed that aiding the Union's victory would help bring about the abolition of slavery, a cause she dedicated her whole life to advancing.

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Besides her stellar career as a singer, dancer, and actress, Josephine Baker also leveraged her celebrity status to spy for the French Resistance during World War II. Using her high-profile connections, she gathered intelligence at parties and social events in neutral countries, smuggling secret messages in her sheet music and underwear.

Despite the inherent risks, Baker's espionage efforts were instrumental in aiding the French Resistance. Her courage and ingenuity earned her the Croix de Guerre, the Medal of Resistance, and the title of Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by Charles de Gaulle. Beyond her glamorous facade, Baker was a dedicated patriot and a fierce opponent of fascism.

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Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, drew heavily from his own experiences as a British naval intelligence officer during World War II. Fleming's work involved planning covert operations, and his firsthand knowledge of espionage informed the thrilling adventures of his famous fictional spy.

Fleming's real-life exploits included overseeing Operation Goldeneye, a plan to monitor Spain during the war, and leading the 30 Assault Unit, a specialized unit of commandos that gathered intelligence and documents behind enemy lines.