Have you ever wondered how IKEA’s naming system goes? I sure didn’t know it works this way.
Apparently, Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of the aforementioned furniture company, struggles with dyslexia. When Kamprad found out that nouns helped him remember the products better compared to using code numbers, he created this unusual naming system that the company still uses up to this day.
A bookcase, for instance, is probably always going to be named after a profession, if it doesn’t have a boy’s name like Billy. Rugs tend to be named after cities in Denmark and Sweden, while outdoor furniture is named after islands in Scandinavia, like Kuggö, an outdoor umbrella named after an island about 125 miles west of Helsinki. Expedit, the beloved, discontinued shelving unit, means “salesclerk,” while its replacement, Kallax, is named after a town in northern Sweden. Curtains are named for mathematical terms.
Unfortunately, should the Swedish names sound like dirty words in another language, the product name will be changed in that country.
Not only do you buy furniture from IKEA, but you also get to know a bit of the Swedish language.
(Image Credit: IKEA International Group/ Wikimedia Commons)
Comments (1)
Obeying orders is the tricky one... You don't want some random human to order your expensive bot to commit suicide for their own amusement. You don't want them to be used to commit crimes from a safe distance. Etc.