Word Origins
Business and Industry
Classic Movie Quotes
Brand Mascots
Landmarks
100
The name of this flying insect may have come from old folklore about the insects stealing dairy products.
Butterfly
100
No lie: Burger King in Russia briefly launched a cryptocurrency named after this signature burger.
Whopper
100
"You're going to need a bigger boat..."
Jaws
100
Originally called "Pitcher Man," this mascot's origins are reported as being inspired by an ad agency's art director who would watch his son draw smiley faces on frosty glass. Oh Yeah!!
Kool-Aid Man
100
This Italian landmark is often photographed with people pretending to hold it up.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
200
This word, meaning "a slow-witted or stupid person," is said to have once been the title of the acolytes of John Duns Scotus. However, it became an insult when his thoughts and ideas fell out of favor.
Dunce
200
This famous drink was introduced as "Brad's Drink" in New Bern, North Carolina, in 1893 at a drugstore; the product was renamed five years later after the Greek word for "digestion."
Pepsi Cola
200
"...You killed my father. Prepare to die."
The Princess Bride
200
This Procter & Gamble mascot has an origin story involving a mysterious bald baby industriously cleaning a farmer’s front porch. The farmer and his wife thought “he was the cutest, cleanest baby [they] had ever seen,” and so they adopted him; he grew big and strong and traveled the world to help clean messes.
Mr. Clean
200
The floor of this ancient Roman landmark was sometimes completely flooded by the ancient Romans in order to host miniature, mock sea battles.
The Colosseum
300
The name of this "crappy" occupation originally referred to someone working with lead, which indicates how the elemental abbrevation made it into the word.
Plumber/Plumbing
300
This company's original logo in 1976 featured a drawing of famous scientist Sir Isaac Newton sitting under a tree.
Apple
300
"That'll do, pig. That'll do."
Babe
300
This small insurance mascot was bron of a Screen Actors Guild strike that prevented the hiring of live actors; the whole campaign was inspired by individuals commonly misspelling or mispronouncing the company's name.
Geico Gecko
300
During its construction, this landmark was called “the longest cemetery on earth” because so many people died building it. Reportedly, it cost the lives of more than one million people
The Great Wall of China
400
This friendly word comes from the Latin roots meaning "together with" and "bread or food," making the word's original meeting something like "one who you break bread with."
Companion
400
Jimi Heselden bought this personal transportation device company on Christmas Day in 2009, only to die by riding an off-road version of one off of a cliff less than a year later.
Segway
400
"I'm having an old friend for dinner."
Silence of the Lambs
400
In 1975, General Mills thought this character was too greedy, and replaced him with "Waldo the Wizard," however luck wasn't on Waldo's side as the original character returned less than a year later.
Lucky the Leprechaun (Lucky Charms)
400
This American landmark has a hidden chamber in one of the four main portions that was meant to hold the nation's most important documents. However, the architect behind the idea died before the chamber was completed, so that vision never came to fruition.
Mount Rushmore
500
This word, meaning wild, tumultuous uproar, unrestrained disorder, or utter chaos, was constructed by John Milton when he wrote Paradise Lost and was basically the capital city of Hell. He used the Greek root meaning all and a Latin word for "evil spirit."
Pandemonium
500
This is a common five-word business rule or maxim that has been attributed to consumer-focused entrepreneurs such as H. Gordon Selfridge and John Wanamaker... and workers in the industry tend to hate it.
"The customer is always right."
500
"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."
The Godfather
500
This mascot was an accident; Nolan Bushnell was planning on creating a coyote mascot for his restaurant chain, but they received a rat costume instead. They just went with it.
Chuck E. Cheese
500
1000 elephants were used in the construction of this landmark; its foundation is made of timber and there is a risk that it could completely collapse, but the builders designed it to collapse outwards so it doesn't damage the tomb inside.
Taj Mahal