IKEA-a-ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

[DaSwede]

When interacting with foreigners (foreigners from my Swedish point of view) I can't help but noticing that many of them seem to find IKEA a bit ...comical? Why is that? Is it the self-assembly thing, and if so, is that unique to IKEA?

[SteveD]

Just out of interest, this is from the Ikea web site:

"IKEA names products after Nordic names, counties, towns, islands and rivers."

[DaSwede]

Hi SteveD, yes it's true they often do, but many of the names (at least here in Sweden) are proper names (like the cupboard Billy, mentioned by jno) or feel-good words or words that somehow denote the appearance or the components of the product, or speak of the mood of the room where the piece of furniture belongs. It can at times get downright ridiculous - for instance they have a (bathroom?) mirror called Kolja - which means Haddock...