13. Where did the name Vimto come from?
From Quiz Vimto - More Than Just A Drink?
Answer:
It's "vim" (as in vim and vigour) plus TOnic
Vimto's inventor, Noel Nichols, originally called it "Vim Tonic" because he claimed it revitalised you and gave you energy. Much as with Coca Cola, which at the time Vimto was born in 1908 was still calling itself a "delightful, palatable, healthful beverage," Vimto was originally intended as a health drink.
"Vim" is also the name of a popular brand of UK scouring powder first sold in 1904. It was clearly in vogue in Edwardian times, although it's virtually a fossil word these days, really only living on in the phrase "vim and vigour."
"Vimto" does look a lot like a Latin first person singular verb. "Vim" itself even exists in Latin - it means "force" or "power" - and this is probably where the English word comes from. "Vimto" is not valid Latin though. The British actor Derek Nimmo used to suffer at school at the hands of a Latin teacher who claimed his surname was part of a verb meaning "to be a nobody" ("Nobody," as Jules Verne fans will know, is "nemo" in Latin). If Noel Nichols was tempted to make up a similar verb, he clearly resisted.
Founders' and inventors' Initials and/or partial surnames are, of course, very popular in brand and company names - B&Q, Tesco and Amstrad just for starters in the UK alone.