You Want To Call It WHAT? Origins of Brand Names Quiz

Answer: It is the Russian word for 'winter'

1992 was one of those weird years in which drink manufacturers messed around with their most popular products, trying to come up with something 'different.' It was known as the 'Year Of The Clear', especially in the highly competitive beer world and the major brewers thought that a clear beer would appeal to whatever age group was popular at the time. Remember "Miller Clear?" Don't worry, no one else does. Only the folks at Coors came up with a clever name for their beer that looked like vodka: Zima.

A rough translation of this Russian word is 'winter' in English.

Answer: Mountain Dew

Long referring to the illegal hootch known as 'moonshine', Mountain Dew was the name selected by Barney and Ally Hartman, creators of the lemon-lime drink which was originally intended to be used as a whiskey mixer. When Pepsi-Cola bought the company in 1964, Mountain Dew was peddled as a soft drink and raucous kids shouting "Do The Dew!" replaced old "Willy." Just think of what life might have been like if the Hartmans had used the 'Hee Haw Hippity Hickey Hoppers' name.

Answer: 7-Eleven

Although the other names are more alliterative, the business of selling basic foodstuffs off of an ice dock in Dallas, TX in 1927 was given a name that reflected its unusual hours of operation (7 a.m. to 11 p.m.). Today, it is an international business with more stores than McDonald's and a number of brand names, such as 'Slurpee', Big Gulp', and 'Citgo Gas', under its control.

Answer: Banana Republic

Although you might not link 'jungles' and 'bananas' together, Banana Republic founders Mel and Patricia Ziegler thought it a great name for their new (1978) company. During the 1980's, this was THE place for well-dressed 'yuppies' to get their safari jackets, pith helmets, and snakeskin briefcases.

When Gap, Inc. acquired Banana Republic in 1983, the fervor for the Tarzan look was waning, but through clever marketing, Banana Republic emerged as a popular source of everyday casual wear.

Answer: Hush Puppies

A Michigan shoe company was about to introduce a new shoe to the market: lace-up suede shoes with a crepe sole designed for comfort. All that was missing was the name. While people pondered in Michigan, the company's sale manager went down to Tennessee to visit some friends. Of course, they had yappy dogs all over the place, but when they were thrown chunks of mushy looking cornmeal, they became quiet and complacent.

The Michigan man went back home and told the company that he had come up with the perfect name for these kick-back shoes: Hush Puppies, named after that sticky, gooey cornmeal mush.

Answer: M&Ms

Franklin and his son, Forrest, had a tempestuous relationship, culminating in the younger Mars departing for Europe with the recipes for his dad's popular candy bars. After observing British soldiers returning from the fighting fields of World War Two with small bits of chocolate covered by a hard candy shell, he felt that the U.S. was ready for a 'melt proof' candy.

He and his new partner, Murrie (the adopted son of legendary Milton Hershey) wanted to use the British name for the candies - 'Smarties' but found out that there was already a 'Smarties' candy in the United States. Putting their heads together, they ended up putting the first letter of their last names together.

Answer: Spiced ham

SPAM (which is always capitalized) was created by the Hormel Company in 1937. Kenneth Daigneau came up with the clever name. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev gave the mystery meat high praise, crediting SPAM with saving the lives of countless Russian soldiers during the Nazi invasion of WWII. Today, more SPAM is consumed in the state of Hawaii than anywhere else in the nation.

Answer: Tom and Louis Borders, brothers from Ann Arbor, Michigan

The brothers Borders opened a used book store in 1971, but soon developed an inventory control method that permitted them to have quick access to almost any book in print. In 1994, Kmart acquired Borders, but just one year later, Borders was big enough to buy their way out of Kmart's clutches.

Answer: The seeds of the chia plant sprout into 'hair' when watered

You can thank Joseph Enterprises of San Francisco for discovering that chia plant seeds are virtually rootless and can grow on a variety of clay heads.

Answer: EchoBay.com

Omidyar created Auction Web in 1995, intending it to be an on-line 'flea market', but soon found out that the name 'auctionweb.com' had already been taken. EchoBay.com, which came from Pierre's Echo Bay Technology Group, was also unavailable, and the closest he could come to it was 'eBay.' The lower-case 'e' was used so that people could pronounce the name properly, and, NO, it is not Pig Latin.