Did you know that Skype actually stands for “sky peer-to-peer?” That mediocre fast food chain Arby’s is a derivative of its founders, brothers Leroy and Forrest Raffel’s monikers? (RB = Raffel Brothers)?
That one-time horse meat peddler IKEA is secretly an acronym for its founder, Ingvar Kamprad’s initials, the latter - EA representing Elmtaryd, his family farm, and Agunnaryd, an adjacent village.
If you too, are confused, you’re far from alone. TikTok creator @goodvibesgoodtimez came to a similar epiphany, discovering that several iconic brand names are actually acronyms.
“This is why I love TikTok because it’s always teaching me something new,” she said in her clip, stitching another video referencing CVS by its longer name, “Consumer Value Stores.”
“I had no idea that CVS had a government name. I didn’t even think about it!” she said, admitting that she, like the vast majority of us, never stopped to think about what, exactly the store’s acronym actually stood for.
Inspired by this epiphany, @goodvibesgoodtimez decided to venture deeper into this naming rabbit hole, discovering that several other stores have secret names hiding in plain sight.
“I didn’t think that it stood for anything but that got me thinking – the other stores that go by abbreviation and acronyms, what do they stand for?”
“ASOS stands for “As Seen On Screen,” MAC, like the makeup brand, stands for Make-Up Art Cosmetics,” she continued.
Even tax company H&R Block, she learned, boasts a formal name. “The H and R in H&R Block stand for Henry and Richard,” she continued, subtly referring to its founders, Henry W. Bloch, and Richard Bloch, before elaborating on other companies’ real names.
“DSW stands for ‘Designer Shoe Warehouse,’ GEICO stands for “Government Employee Insurance Company,” she elaborated. “The more you know!”
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