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Quiz
1. The name of US based FMC
Corporation is seen on a variety of
specialized equipment around airports,
and on street sweepers and such. They
also produce chemicals, and have spun
off a military vehicle operation. What did
“FMC” originally mean?
(a) Fredericks Merchant Corporation
(b) Federated Mining and Chemicals
(c) Federal Machine Corporation
(d) Food Machinery Corporation
2. The initials NCR appear on equipment
and information systems found in
businesses. What did “NCR” originally
stand for?
(a) Newport, Craig, and Rogers
(b) National Cash Register
(c) New Castle Receiving
(d) Northeast Carbon Recording
3. The Japanese car maker Nissan was once
known as Datsun? How did the name
“Datsun” originate?
(a) A river near Osaka
(b) Japanese da (moving) plus tsun (spirit)
(c) Three initials of the three founders plus
the English word “sun”
(d) The city in Japan where the company
started
4. Sun Microsystems is a high tech
company making computer workstation
and high performance servers. How did the
name “Sun” originate?
(a) The initials of the three founders
(b) From the name of founder McNealy’s
cat, Sunshine
(c) From the sun as being symbolic of light
and power
(d) An abbreviation for Stanford University
Network

5. Exxon is one of the world’s largest oil
companies. How did it get its name?
(a) It was named for the oil rich Exxon
Hills in West Texas
(b) It was named for the founding Exxon
family
(c) It was picked from a list generated by
computer
(d) It means “energy” in ancient Greek
6. US firm TRW was a large conglomerate
once known for highly diverse divisions
having interests in everything from auto
parts to lawn mowers to aerospace. They
have since been acquired by aerospace
giant Northrop Grumman. Where did the
name TRW come from?
(a) Truck and Railway Works
(b) Thompson Products merged with
Ramo-Woolridge Corporation
(c) Territorial Roads and Waterways
(d) Transmissions, Radios, and Wireless
7. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is a
Japanese company well known for its
motorcycles. How was the name
“Kawasaki” derived?
(a) The founder, Shozo Kawasaki
(b) The Japanese Kawa (valley) plus saki
(spirit)
(c) A city in Japan
(d) A sacred mountain
8. The Italian automaker Fiat is famous for its
spirited small cars. How was the name Fiat
derived?
(a) It’s an acronym
(b) From the founder, Enzo Fiat
(c) From the Italian, meaning “the final
word”
(d) From the Fiat d’Planos region in
northern Italy
9. Kyocera makes copiers, cell phones,
semiconductors and a variety of other
technical products. How was their name
derived?
(a) From the Japanese Kyo (primary)
plus cera (goods)
(b) It’s short for Kyoto Ceramics
(c) From the founder, Hibiki Kyocera
(d) From the name of a blue flower that
blooms in spring
10. IBM stands for International Business
Machines. What was their name before
1924 when they changed it to IBM?
(a) Timekeeping Machine Corporation
(T-M-C)
(b) Computing- Tabulating- Recording
Company (C-T-R)*
(c) The James Blue Company (J-B-C)
(d) Punch Card Enumerating (P-C-E)
11. One of the pioneering companies in the
electronic gaming industry was founded in
Silicon Valley in 1974 by Nolan Bushnell,
who give it its name, Atari. From what
was the name "Atari" derived?
(a) It’s from the game of “Go” and means
something like “check” in chess
(b) It is the Chinese word for “warrior”
(c) It is the Japanese word for “robot”
(d) It’s an acronym
12. Where the “Pepsi” in “Pepsi Cola” name
come from?
(a) It suggested it would pep you up
(b) It implied treatment of dyspepsia
(c) It contained pepsin
(d) The company mascot was a
schnauzer named “Pepsi”
13. How did the name “Coca Cola” originate?
(a) From the ingredients cocaine and
kola nuts*
(b) From the two ingredients cocoa
beans and colaria leaves
(c) From the main ingredients coca
leaves and kola nuts
(d) From Koca Kola, a town in Brazil
Drishti
R
(10) of (10)
14. What was the previous name of the Bank of
America, before it was changed in the ‘30's?
(a) Pacific Northern Bank
(b) Bank of Italy
(c) Fort Knox Bank
(d) American Foundation Trust
15. What is the origin of the name of the
Swedish automotive company, Volvo?
(a) It was named after a Swedish breed
of sheep dogs
(b) It was named after a city in Sweden
(c) It means “I roll” in Latin
(d) It was named after the founder,
Gustaf Volvo
Answer Key
Explanatory Answers
2. National Cash Register Company was founded by John H. Patterson in 1884. The name was
shortened to NCR in 1974. They were purchased by AT&T in 1991, and bore the name AT&T GIS
from 1994 to 1996. It was changed back to NCR when they were spun off as an independent
company in 1996.
3. Den, Aoyama and Takeuchi were the founders, who adopted the name Datsun in 1932. Reference
was to the rising sun on the Japanese flag.
4. Stanford University is an incubator for many Silicon Valley high tech firms. The first Sun workstation
was derived from a design developed at Stanford, so they were able to ship product the very first
quarter they were in business.
5. Exxon is the company that evolved from what was once John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil. The
name was changed from Esso to Exxon in 1972 in the United States, with Esso retained in other
parts of the world. Apparently the company could not resist keeping a hint of the ESSO derivation.
A 1999 merger brought about the change to the current name, Exxon Mobil.
6. Thompson Products made engine valves and aircraft engine parts. Ramo-Woolridge played a key
role in the development of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). They merged in 1958.
7. Kawasaki Heavy Industries started as Kawasaki Tsukiji Dockyard in 1878. It was established in
Tsukiji, Tokyo by Shozo Kawasaki. There is a port, Kawasaki City, but that is not the origin of the
name. Kawa means "river," which lets out valley and mountain derivations. Many Japanese family
names have meanings related to nature.
8. Fabbrica Italiana di Automobili - Torino is abbreviated to FIAT. The company was founded in 1899
to manufacture automobiles. They acquired Alfa Romeo in 1984. Enzo Ferrari is the famous carrelated
Enzo.
12. The Atari game "Pong" launched the videogame industry. Bushnell sold the company to Warner
Brothers in 1974. After a revival in the mid-80's, the company died as a home video game
producer.
13. The soft drink is made from an extract of coca leaves and kola nuts. The product once contained a
dash of cocaine, but that has long since been removed. The company has long been associated
with Atlanta, Georgia.
14. The Bank of America was founded in San Francisco in 1904 by the Gianninis, father and son.
Amadeo Peter Giannini, the father, has been called the greatest innovator in modern banking for
his development of a system of strong branch banks.
1.(3) 2.(2). 3.(3). 4.(4). 5.(3). 6.(2). 7.(1). 8.(1). 9.(2). 10.(2).
11.(3) 12.(2). 13.(1). 14.(2). 15.(3).