Where Does IKEA Get Its Funny Names?

We’ve always wondered where IKEA gets its crazy product names, like the Kramfors sofa and BEST

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GRA TV unit with casters. It turns out IKEA actually has funky a system based on names of stuff from its native lands, says ahundredmonkeys.com.

Items for the bathroom like Apskar (a wash basin), Toftbo (a bathroom mat), and Sanni (a bath sheet) are named after Scandanavian lakes, rivers and bays–that seems appropriate.

Stuff for kids is named after mammals, birds, and adjectives. So if you buy your children a Smyg, they’re getting a lamp named for a wren. And a child’s desk is Fartful, which of course means “speedy” in Swedish.

For the full run-down, Wikipedia has all the answers.

Unraveling the IKEA product naming mystery [a hundred moneys] (Thanks to c-side!)

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