Comments on: IKEA Naming Conventions

By: Gareth

Gareth — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:12:00 +0000

@ Joanna:

We are the Bjorg. Resistance isz fyuu-tile. Yorr interior decorational design distinctiveness vill be added to our own.

Syeriously.

By: Joanna

Joanna — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 16:18:40 +0000

I completely disagree with Mr. Sid up there at #7…IKEA is a temple and I worship there a frequently as I can. I take about 3 trips a year to the one near Chicago. Looking forward to news of one being built closer than 2 hours away! My life would be complete. And to counter Mr. Sid’s comment,the wide assortment of items makes it impossible to dismiss the whole place as “cheap” or “disposable”. From bedding, to kitchen and bath and shelving and lighting…etc etc. LOVE IT.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:17:46 +0000

I work for IKEA and I love that you posted thi! It’s all true, infact there are two little old swedish ladies who name everything and there is a method to it all. I just wish they would think about what the names could mean in other languages. We used to have a kids bench named “FARTFULL”. I don’t know how many jokes we heard about that one!

By: James

James — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:38:04 +0000

i believe that part of the ear is called the trachus (at least i know that is what i always heard it called in reference to having that area pierced)

By: Tdave

Tdave — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:55:03 +0000

Right now I’m remembering how Rose on Golden Girls would mention Scandinavian words.(fake, joke words)

My last name, in the old country, means “guy who sells hemp (for making rope)”. I’d like to see them give some item that name.

By: Molly W.

Molly W. — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:21:48 +0000

This is interesting. Once, in a silly mood, my boyfriend and I decided to name the part of the ear that sticks out in front of the ear-hole, the hard cartilege part. We decided to name it a Bjorgin Snudge (pronounced bee-or-gin). I said it sounded like something you could buy at IKEA, so we decided to find out if it really was something you could buy at IKEA. True story, we called the local IKEA store and told them we once saw something called a Bjorgin in their store but weren’t sure what it was. We were giggling, thinking they’d know it was a prank. Then the guy goes, “Oh yes, here we have a Bjorgen, for the kitchen, is that it?”. We were amazed- it was some kind of kitchen table + chairs set. Only $49.99! Never did find out what the ear part was actually called though.

By: John

John — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:50:09 +0000

This makes me remember a conversation I once overheard:
“See, there’s method to my madness!”
“But it’s still madness.”

By: just_say_no_to_lutefisk

just_say_no_to_lutefisk — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:59:01 +0000

This is really interesting. I once saw an IKEA children’s chair with my Finnish last name. For some reason I thought IKEA products were named after real people, perhaps executives at IKEA or the designers of the furniture. I thought I must have a distant relative who works for IKEA and got his or her name on the chair.

This makes sense though with children’s items named after “animals and adjectives.” I’ve been told by native speakers of Finnish that my last name means “horse field” or something roughly equivalent.

By: Erin

Erin — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:01:55 +0000

I’m pretty sure “Billy” is a male prostitute.

By: Higgins

Higgins — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:56:22 +0000

So I’ve been scouring the web trying to figure out what ‘Billy’ means in the languages mentioned above — and I can’t find anything. Perhaps the Wikipedia article is wrong about this being an occupation?