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You鈥檝e probably heard a few 鈥渘icknames鈥� for big national companies.

Like certain local 鈥済eographic insults鈥�听for neighborhoods and towns explored earlier by All Over The Map, these company nicknames often have a pejorative feel. However, I believe they also represent a certain kind of 鈥渢ough love鈥� for businesses that some people love to buy stuff from, but that also can be frustrating or irritating to deal with.

I can鈥檛 remember the first time I heard the nickname 鈥淧overty Barn鈥� as shorthand for high prices at the retail furniture and housewares chain Pottery Barn, but I know it made me chuckle. The same is true for 鈥淲hole Paycheck,鈥� which, since Amazon bought the grocery chain Whole Foods a few years ago, means this one has become something of a local example.

Here are few more company nicknames from the Seattle area.

鈥淩icardo鈥檚 Club 19鈥� for Dick鈥檚 Drive-In

Dick鈥檚 Drive-In opened back in 1954 in Wallingford and then in 1955 on Capitol Hill.

One version of the 鈥淩icardo鈥檚 Club 19鈥� origin story is that there was a nightclub on Broadway with a similar name, and a taxi driver, as a joke, and because Dick鈥檚 had a big sign advertising their 19-cent burgers, just started calling it 鈥淩icardo鈥檚 Club 19.鈥� Dick鈥檚 even started using that name in some advertisements, and still uses it for special events (as recently as this past Valentine鈥檚 Day).

On Queen Anne Hill, the Dick鈥檚 location there was across the street from a French restaurant called Le Tastevin that was in business from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Some Tastevin employees and customers called Dick鈥檚 the very French flavored 鈥淐hez Richard鈥� 鈥� pronounced, naturally, as 鈥淪HAY ri-SHARD.鈥�

鈥淔airview Fanny鈥� for The Seattle Times

The origins of 鈥淔airview Fanny鈥� for Seattle鈥檚 last remaining daily paper are somewhat murky. Fairview Avenue north of downtown has been the site of the Seattle Times鈥� editorial offices since the 1930s, so the name partly draws from that location.

Susan Paynter, who worked at the old Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Times鈥� main competitor for several decades, said in an email:

Don’t know much about origins of [the] Times鈥� nickname, although it was a reference (by us at the PI, at least) to the Times being fat (compared with its lean, mean competition), and smugly self-satisfied, squatting there on Fairview.

Jean Godden, who worked at both the P-I and Fairview Fanny, wondered if maybe author Tom Robbins 鈥� who also, in the 1960s, worked for both papers — came up with it.

鈥淩eturn Equipment Indefinitely鈥� for REI

Now national outdoor retailer REI in Seattle. The initials stand for 鈥淩ecreational Equipment, Incorporated.鈥�

Back in June 2013, REI changed their very generous open-ended return policy because some outdoor-types were perhaps taking advantage of that policy by trading in old gear for new stuff.

That is, customers 鈥� actually, 鈥渕embers鈥� of the REI co-op 鈥� would return boots, tents, camp stoves and other items not because the item was defective, but because it had worn out after years of use. Some of those folks said that with that generous policy, those three letters 鈥� REI — stood for 鈥淩eturn Equipment Indefinitely鈥� or 鈥淩ent Everything Inside.鈥�

鈥淟azy B鈥� for The Boeing Company

Boeing was founded in Seattle in 1916. At some point, perhaps during the company鈥檚 booming World War II years, it became known as the 鈥淟azy B.鈥� This name mimics a Western ranch with its own cattle brand, with the 鈥淏鈥� standing for Boeing, or, in the nickname鈥檚 pejorative sense, 鈥淟azy Bum.鈥� Another possibility is that the 鈥淏鈥� stands for another less polite word often preceded by 鈥渓azy.鈥�

The earliest reference to 鈥淟azy B鈥� in newspaper archives was in the 1980s, but the sense then is that the nickname had been around for years. A story from July 10, 1984 said, 鈥渟ome workers call it the 鈥楲azy B鈥� and tell their friends about how little they do for their paychecks.” That quote is from Fairview Fanny, by the way.

Mike Lombardi is chief company historian at Boeing and a good friend of 成人X站 Radio, MyNorthwest, and Seattle鈥檚 Morning News.

In an email inquiring about the origins of 鈥淟azy B,鈥� Lombardi wrote, 鈥淭hat question has come up before and we never did come up with an answer. It is something from way back and I have not heard the phrase used here in a long, long, time 鈥� we are all way too busy!鈥�

A 成人X站 Radio listener said via text, 鈥淏oeing was called the 鈥楲azy B鈥� because the cursive capital B [of the company鈥檚 logo in those years] was considered a 鈥榣azy鈥� B, laying back, not upright. I was told that about Boeing by a man who worked there in the early 1940s.鈥�

鈥淕roup Death鈥� for Group Health

Group Health was founded back in the 1940s as a revolutionary style of 鈥渃o-operative鈥� health care organization. It was recently absorbed by health care giant, Kaiser Permanente.

According to a Group Health history prepared by the late Walt Crowley, 鈥淜ing County Medical Society [KCMS] castigated Group Health physicians as 鈥榰nethical,鈥� which meant, according to KCMS 鈥榚thics,鈥� that they were working for a prepaid group practice that the Medical Society had not certified.

“A neat Catch 22,” he continued. “More insidiously, Group Health鈥檚 enemies dubbed it ‘Group Death’ and labeled its staff and members 鈥榗ommunists.鈥欌��

The Burn Good Grocery in Wallingford

Nicknames aren鈥檛 only for big companies.

In Seattle鈥檚 Wallingford neighborhood, the Durn Good Grocery is a local convenience store located on the corner of North 40th^听Street and Wallingford Avenue North. The store moved a few decades ago from its original location a few blocks east at 40th and Bagley.

At some time in the past 鈥� perhaps the 1970s or 1980s 鈥� 听there was purportedly a fire at the original Durn Good. From that point on, local residents started calling it the 鈥淏urn Good,鈥� and for some, the name still applies to the current location.

I know there are more of these company nicknames out there around Puget Sound and Washington state, particularly in neighborhoods, suburbs, and small towns. If you know of any, please get in touch via my contact information below.

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle鈥檚 Morning News and read more from him鈥�here. If you have a story idea, please email Feliks鈥�here.