How six memorable tech companies got their names

Just imagine if instead of "Googling" something, you "BackRubbed" it.

Yahoo As the tech world's most reliable source of ready-to-serve punchlines, it's only fitting that Yahoo is called Yahoo. And the story of how it came to be known is just as entertaining as the company's endless string of public gaffes.

Upon its inception, Yahoo actually had a different identity: "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web." Not surprisingly, that name didn't stick.

So Jerry and David -- co-founders and appropriately titled "Chief Yahoos" Jerry Yang and David Filo -- turned to the dictionary to find something shorter. They say they selected the word "yahoo" because they liked its definition: "rude, unsophisticated, and uncouth."

According to Merriam-Webster, "yahoo" also means "stupid" and is synonymous with "dimwit," "doofus," and "chucklehead." Who could possibly miss those prominent meanings, you might be wondering?

Why, only a real yahoo, of course.

Author JR Raphael is the chief chucklehead at eSarcasm, America's lowest calorie geek-humor Web site. You can find him on both Facebook and Twitter.

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