Submitted by our Sous Chef, Caroline “Ruby Sneakers” Leavitt, our most outrageous inductee into the Name Shame Hall of Fame ever is a quirky Greenwich Village gift boutique named Mxyplyzyk. The store claims “the name is inspired by a character in early Superman comics.” Ironically, they didn’t use the actual character’s name, (Mr.) Mxyzptlk, (pictured below) which is spelled differently than “Mxyplyzyk,” (perhaps thinking they might head off a C&D letter from D.C. Comics), because you cannot, after all, confuse Mxyplyzyk with Myxzptlk.
Mxyplyzyk hits all the criteria to qualify for the Name Shame Hall of Fame and is a leading contender for the annual Head Scratcher™ trophy, awarded each December by Eat My Words. Here’s why:
- It’s difficult to pronounce the first time you see it (actually every time you see it)
- It’s meaningless unless someone explains it to you (even then)
- It’s forced and unnatural sounding (oh boy)
- It has an unnatural spelling (ya think? )
- It’s just damn annoying (did we say oh boy yet?)
Inc. magazine briefly discussed Mxyplyzyk in an article entitled “What’s in a Name“?
Here is an except from the full article:
Kevin Brynan spends a large chunk of his day explaining over and over again how to pronounce the word Mxyplyzyk–the name of his gift shop in New York City’s Greenwich Village. As it happens, the name (which is pronounced “mix-ee-pliz-ik,” in case you were stumped) is so long that Brynan’s business card is a three-part foldout. The unusual moniker, created by a co-founder and inspired by a Superman comic book character, is fitting for a shop with unusual items like pug dog “puggy” banks and warped vinyl record serving bowls. On the other hand, it’s hard to tell your friends about a store when you can’t pronounce the name, and good luck finding it online. Ultimately, Brynan thinks the unusual name has been a plus, highlighting the store’s quirkiness and helping to draw foot traffic. Nonetheless, he adds, “sometimes I wish we’d named it John Doe.”
(Side note to all journalists: Please stop using “What’s in a name?” every time you do an article about naming. It was clever about 400 years ago, but not so much anymore.)
So, welcome to The Hall Mxyplyzyk. It’s a rare name that is so very wrong on every level and makes us scratch our heads super hard. However, we can give credit where credit is due. We are quite sure that every extension of the domain name was available on GoDaddy for $9.95, which is a deciding factor for many companies when choosing a name. More on that later…
