5 ms·
What exactly is up with the name “ACME”? I remember as a kid there was an ACME in my town which was one of a chain of grocery stores, but in Roadrunner and Coy
by Uehreka 6y ago
What exactly is up with the name “ACME”?
I remember as a kid there was an ACME in my town which was one of a chain of grocery stores, but in Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons it was a mail-order company that would send Coyote all kinds of crazy devices (which the real world ACME did not tend to have on hand).
Now, as an adult, there’s a Theatre company in my city called ACME and it’s also the name of a standard for requesting SSL certs, and now this guy has a joke about his Klein bottles being made by ACME.
So what’s up?
- 082349872349872 6y agoancient greek: ἀκμή
- djur 6y agoIt means "summit, zenith, peak, pinnacle" and has a history of being used as a business name that doesn't convey much more than "the best". It has the advantage of showing up early in alphabetical listings (like phone books) but seeming more sophisticated than, say, "A Plus" or "AAA". So in mid 20th century America, "Acme" would be an obvious choice for a generic company name. According to Chuck Jones, that's why it was used in Looney Tunes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acme_Corporation#Warner_Brothers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acme_Corporation#Warner_Brothe... Most recent uses of "Acme" are probably influenced by Looney Tunes. ETA: In case it's not clear, it's not an acronym/initialism, although it's sometimes confused with one or given meaning as a bacronym.
- GolDDranks 6y agoThe initialism I've heard is "A Company that Makes Everything". The meaning of "summit, zenith, peak, pinnacle" was new to me. TIL.
- TazeTSchnitzel 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_etymology
- andi999 6y agoAny of the new corps registering in Walla Walla (Washington)?
- dekhn 6y agobasically, much of western civ idolizes greek culture and embeds its concepts in a very subtle way. acme means "the best".
- CliffStoll 6y agoTwenty five years ago, I couldn't think of a good name for a klein bottle company/hobby, and my wife said, "Acme". It stuck (and so did she).