You're Gorgeous (you baby aspirin you)
In the 17th century, to be faced with Hobson's choice was to be given the option - by one Thomas Hobson - of renting out either the horse in the stall nearest the door or taking zero horses. No preferences catered for; with the admirable directness of a school dinnerlady, you got what you were given, or you went without.
From Thomas Hobson's fair/bloody-mindedness, we gain the phrase that bears his name.
From this phrase, and the centuries old association with horses, an American company called Hobson's Choice Saddlery do take their name. And then massively let the side* down by offering customers "a variety of seat sizes, tree sizes**, flap lengths and configurations to meet both you and your horse's level of comfort".
It's the almost getting it right that's so very bothersome.
Edinburgh boasts a strip-joint named after Burke and Hare, the 19th century rapscallions who took to murder - of pensioners, prostitutes, and a children's entertainer with a gammy foot - to provide Professor Robert Knox with bodies for his anatomy lectures. The pair did indeed have an eye for the profit to be made from a body... it's just that those bodies were worthless if still wriggling, no matter their freshness.
Those opining online feel a good business name is one that's easy to remember and spell, and describes both your business and why you're brilliant. Preferably short, punchy and fun to say. They seldom feel obliged to warn against the perils of under-research. They would do well to do so. Even if by linking to Mitchell & Webb sketchery...
* 'The side' here being those who:
a) value language and its nuances
b) have genuinely tried to learn from history
c) would insist Americans aren't all to be tarred with one big ole' idiot brush
** In a saddle the "tree" is the frame which provides the shape and determines the fit for the horse. A solid saddle tree is credited with distributing the rider's weight on either side of the horse's spine, making people into more comfortable burdens.
From Thomas Hobson's fair/bloody-mindedness, we gain the phrase that bears his name.
From this phrase, and the centuries old association with horses, an American company called Hobson's Choice Saddlery do take their name. And then massively let the side* down by offering customers "a variety of seat sizes, tree sizes**, flap lengths and configurations to meet both you and your horse's level of comfort".
It's the almost getting it right that's so very bothersome.
Edinburgh boasts a strip-joint named after Burke and Hare, the 19th century rapscallions who took to murder - of pensioners, prostitutes, and a children's entertainer with a gammy foot - to provide Professor Robert Knox with bodies for his anatomy lectures. The pair did indeed have an eye for the profit to be made from a body... it's just that those bodies were worthless if still wriggling, no matter their freshness.
Those opining online feel a good business name is one that's easy to remember and spell, and describes both your business and why you're brilliant. Preferably short, punchy and fun to say. They seldom feel obliged to warn against the perils of under-research. They would do well to do so. Even if by linking to Mitchell & Webb sketchery...
Click to view* 'The side' here being those who:
a) value language and its nuances
b) have genuinely tried to learn from history
c) would insist Americans aren't all to be tarred with one big ole' idiot brush
** In a saddle the "tree" is the frame which provides the shape and determines the fit for the horse. A solid saddle tree is credited with distributing the rider's weight on either side of the horse's spine, making people into more comfortable burdens.