Join the discussion
Write your take first — we'll ask for email only when you're ready to publish.
- Hacker News
- > Every possible product name is carefully checked to avoid undesirable meanings in other languages, political or religious affiliations and fit into our global profile.
I love the JERKER desk that I bought 26 years ago, so I assume this rule must be younger than that.
by tverbeure - Holy crap that's my desk too, bought about 24 years ago. It's been a great desk. Gray frame with black work area/shelves.
I guess at the time the name was funny too but I had forgotten it.
by kraquepype - I'm a Swede and I knew a guy named Jerker growing up. I always wondered if his parents gave him that name to mess with him. In Swedish "j" is pronounced as the English "y", so I think they could have at least spelled it as Yerker.by kalind
- An excellent desk, by the way. I still have mine (the old heavy duty model)!by glimshe
- by andrewfromx
- Yes, they also sold a toilet brush named "VIREN". In Germany this is the plural of virus. And some year ago Danes complained IKEA named carpets and runner after danish towns but never something "better".by Isolus
- You know the saying... a "Do not step on the grass" sign only shows up after people start frequently stepping on the grass...by brunoborges
- Perhaps even the source of that rule.by rtkwe
- I was at IKEA once when they first came to America and there was a chair that was called the "assengråbben" or something like that.
I heard a guy nearby telling the person with him "must be for the interns".
- For a Swede it must seem kind of strange to understand the product names. You see an ACORN toy, a NIGEL bookshelf, and the CROYDON sofa... which sounds like it belongs in a council estate flat.
Definately more fun would be the Polish version. How many people can pronounce the BYDGOSZCZ sofa, the PRZEMYSŁAW bookcase and the PSZCZOŁA soft toy?
by fy20 - I have always thought this about western media. For all of us in non-us countries, the locations, roads and objects are all slightly foreign to us, giving it that other-world feel movies have.
But for those in the US, wouldn't it all be a bit familiar? Whenever I watch a movie set in my home country with home accents and locations, it always feels a bit too familiar and it can cheapen the feel a bit.
by ehnto - I'd love seeing some Polish names in products and learning their pronounciation: but as a fellow Slavic language speaker (which there are hundreds of millions of, compared to 10 or 20 million Swedish speakers), I imagine I can do a pretty good job. So I think Swedish is still globally more playful.
(I'd read it as БИЂОШЧ/БИДГОШЧ, ПРЗЕМИСЛАВ and ПШЧОЛА/ПШЧОЉА — you can check on Google Translate if I am close :))
by necovek - It is kind of funny sometimes. Sometimes it’s related to what the thing is (like a pun) and sometimes just random
- Just go to Polish IKEA and buy the Grzegorz table and Brzęczyszczykiewicz chairs …by namelosw
- its not all that strange tbh - im learning danish which is adjacent enough to swedish that I can understand most of the names - sometimes they aren't relevant to the product function, sometimes they are, but they're just names. Is it strange to you that the word "photoshop" uses english language? what about a Hamburger being named after a place?by RugnirViking
- If the goal is something that reads weird for most Europeans, then try picking names from Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, or Welsh.by nine_k
- As a Swede, I always enjoy Ikea product names. Many of them are based on their actual function or category. Some are wordplay related to this. For example:
Rinnig - a kitchen towel called "runny"
Skaftet - a series of standing lamps and lamp stands called "the shaft"
Fejka - plastic plants literally called "to fake"
Knöckla - A garbage bin called "crumple up"
Some I don't get but are still funny
Ostbit - wooden serving tongs called "piece of cheese"?
by Agentlien - > BYDGOSZCZ sofa
This may not even be that far off from reality, looking at the sort of names rando brands on Amazon often have...
by MajorBee - > contain between 4 and 12 letters
PAX
by Eduard - Clue to their DB setup?by kripy
- The exception that proves the rule :)
It reminds some system - they didn’t allow “other” category for sorting features, but someone came with “999” :)
by sixtyj - PAX has been around since 1992 so probably predates any "rules"by kalleboo
- Is also a Swedish word, though slang, the imperative form of paxa which basically means the same as "dibs!" If I know my english colloquialisms correctly.by kzrdude
- > Every possible product name is carefully checked to avoid undesirable meanings in other languages
This procedure does not always work: https://adland.tv/whats-name-case-2351-ikeas-gutvik-bunk-bed
by dspillett - I'm German, and I'd pronounce "-vik" the same as the beginning of "Victor". With a soft "w".by MrGilbert
- The $50USD Bluetooth speakers "NATTBAD" gave us a good chuckle.
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/nattbad-bluetooth-speaker-yello...
by jannyfer - I was looking at IKEA's home automation stuff, some of which uses the name TRÅDFRI and I thought the "FRI" part sounded like "free" and sure enough this just means "wireless". I'm guessing the "TRÅD" part is possibly a cognate of English "thread", so "thread free" is a literal translation. (I don't speak Swedish so forgive me if I'm completely off on this.)by rootbear
- That is the correct translation, well done!by pchristensen
- English and Swedish have tons of similar words since they are closely related, as do most Germanic languages. The older a word is, the more similar it usually is.by hnarn
- Fun Dutch observation: IKEA’s ANTILOP high chair sounds like “anti lopen” in Dutch. “lopen” = “to walk” So the name can be interpreted as “anti walking” or “prevents your baby from walking away.” I know it’s actually named after the animal (antelope), but the accidental Dutch wordplay is perfect for a baby chair.by azibi