Onomastics - Creative Restroom Signage

Onomastics or onomatology is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. The words are from the Greek: "ὀνομαστικός" (onomastikos), "of or belonging to naming" and "ὀνοματολογία" (onomatologia), from "ὄνομα" (ónoma) "name". - Wikipedia


One of the many ways that businesses add character to their establishments is by creatively naming their restrooms. Here are a couple spotted on the web.

I was recently out at one of the newer restaurants in my hometown when I happened upon these interesting restroom signs.

I get the name "Joe" for the men's restroom (after all, Average Joe, Joe Public, Ordinary Joe and Joe Sixpack have long been used as generics to represent the average American male); what I don't get is "Sally" for the women's restroom. The female equivalent of the above named "Joes" has always been "Jane". In my experience, "Sally" is used as a derogatory nickname for effeminate men. So what gives?

Maybe it has to do with Urban Dictionary's top definition for Sally: "A really, really hot girl."

Along with Zippers, Kleenex and Speedo Fall Prey to Genericide

The June 30th Newsweek had an article about Speedo's LZR suit. If you have not heard about it yet, it is the suit that is helping swimmers break a multitude of records. The article notes that Speedo is the number 1 swim brand in the world and reinforces this statistic by quoting analyst Marshal Cohen, "Speedo is the Kleenex of swimwear." I really got a kick out of seeing this quote as it fit right in with my previous post about brand name genericide (genericide being the process by which a trademarked or brand name becomes a generic name for the product category). While Kleenex was not on the list in my original post, a reader commented that it should have been and I fully agree. And certainly Speedo should be added to the list as the generic name for competitive swimwear and tank suits (which I grew up calling banana hammocks, ha ha).