So I guess we all know that products from IKEA often come with unpronounceable names.

You might well assume that this was due to the fact that they emanate from Sweden.

Well of course this is partly true but it’s also due to the fact that the creator of the company  – Ingvar Kamprad – was dyslexic and wanted to have a way to better understand his inventory that made it easier for him to identify what he wanted – never mind anyone else like the customers – especially non Swedish speakers!

So he used different elements of his homeland to differentiate between the things he was selling. So if you want something like a sofa, bookshelves, media storage, or doorknobs it’ll be named after somewhere in Sweden but beds and wardrobes are named after places in Norway, whilst carpets are named after places in Denmark and tables and chairs are place names in Finland.

Just to make it more interesting some items are named after lakes and rivers in Sweden – fittingly bathroom stuff – while others are named after occupations like peasant farmers.

And as to the name IKEA itself – well that was a named after the initials of his name – IK – as well as the farm  he grew up on Elmtaryd for the E, and the village that he was raised in Agunnaryd, representing the A.

So there you have it! 

Bear this in mind as you struggle to assemble your purchase without swearing.

So from Sweden let’s move to Cornwall where the rivalry between Cornish towns and villages can be quite pronounced, with those on each side of the Camel Trail insisting that theirs is the best.

But some may now be pondering as to why one major town in the county has been ‘honoured’ by having a toilet named after it.

It’s all true as B&Q are now marketing a ‘Bodmin Close-coupled Toilet with Standard close seat’.

But residents of Bodmin may be less than flattered to find that this bog-standard piece of plumbing named after them is, at £75 one of the cheapest available, attracting average reviews of just 3.8 stars.

To rub salt into the wound B&Q are marketing the slightly more up-market, Falmouth toilet priced at £95.

Strangely, more aptly named Cornish towns, Looe and Flushing have not yet been blessed with toilets named after them.

Clearly this show is now going down the pan so I’ll now exit stage left and hope to see you again next week,
Scott