Mercury
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, and has the shortest year, so it’s appropriately named after the Roman messenger god, Mercurius.
Author: Derek Fung
SoHo, New York City
The SoHo district of New York City was once renowned as meeting, living and exhibiting space for artists. That was in an era when the rent and property prices in this part of town...
ESPN
ESPN, the self-titled “Worldwide leader in sports”, is short for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.
Samsung
Written in Hanja (Chinese characters), Samsung is 三星 in Korean or “three stars”, where three represents large and powerful.
Sony
Sony means two things. It’s derived from the Latin word “sonus”, and also alludes to the slang term “sonny boys”. Sonus is Latin for sound or noise. In post-World War II Japan, “sonny boys”...
Cisco
The networking firm is a contraction of San Francisco. Cisco was founded by a husband and wife team when they were working for Stanford University, which is located halfway between San Francisco and San...
Alaska
The state’s name is Aluet for “great land”. Header image: Sawyer Glacier – Tracy Arm Fjord Glacier (Closer) by Ian D. Keating on Flickr.
Alabama
Named for a word spoken by the Alabama people, and was originally used for the Alabama River, where they lived. What the word actually means is up for debate. Header image: Vulcan’s View by...