There is more toIKEA ’s product naming system than non - Swedish people might think . Swedophones are familiar with the furniture store ’s strangely specific conventions , but for most of us , Malm is just a line of bedroom furniture . IKEA ’s mathematical product lines are named according to a set of guideline from which the troupe seldom deviates .
According toQuartz , the ship’s company ’s Cartesian product naming process is the result ofIKEAfounder Ingvar Kamprad ’s struggle with dyslexia . Kamprad found that nouns helped him remember and fancy product substantially than using code routine , so he create a serial publication of unusual appointment convening that the society still uses today .
A bookcase , for instance , is probably always going to be named after a profession , if it does n’t have a boy ’s name like Billy . rug tend to be named after cities in Denmark and Sweden , while out-of-door article of furniture is name after islands in Scandinavia , like Kuggö , an outdoor umbrella named after an island about 125 miles west of Helsinki . Expedit , the beloved , discontinued shelving unit , mean “ salesclerk , ” while its replacement , Kallax , is named after a townspeople in northern Sweden . Curtains are named for numerical terms .
Some of the other products have more descriptive names . Lack , IKEA ’s lustrous animation room piece of furniture line , means “ lacquer . ” Sockerkaka , a bakeware line , mean “ leech bar . ” Bathroom products arenamedafter river and lake .
Some of the translations serve up as little bodied joke . The name of the toy lineDuktigmeans “ clever . ” Storsint , a wine glass series , is the Holy Writ for “ big . ”
Here ’s Quartz ’s list of IKEA taxonomy :
Sadly , if a Swedish name voice too much like a foul word of honor in another language , the product name will be changed in that country . Which is why you ca n’t purchase a bench calledFartfullin an English - speaking commonwealth . At least , not anymore .
