What is in a name? Well a lot when it comes to brand name acronyms.

Ubiquitous acronyms are used because they sound good and it makes life easier than saying a long-winded name in full.

H&M, KFC and B&M are all part of Liverpool ’s shopping and fast food scenes - but what do they mean.

Most people - and certainly those over 30 - will know that KFC stands for Kentucky Fried Chicken, as it was only changed to its acronym in 1991.

But do you know what the letters in ASOS, H&M, B&M and more actually stand for?

We reveal all...

ASDA

The firm was founded in 1965 when the supermarket owning Asquith family merged with the Associated Dairies company of Yorkshire.

ASquith plus DAiries led to the birth of ASDA On the May 3, 1965.

It expanded across England during the 1970s and 1980s.

Just don't forget to call it The Asda, ok?

Asda's Walton store. Pic: Google Streetview
Asda's Walton store. Pic: Google Streetview

ASOS

The global fashion brand and online megastore started life in 1999 as a supplier of unbranded clothes to celebrities appearing on TV. The idea was that people could find clothes and accessories they had seen celebs wearing.

Before long people started referring to AsSeenOnScreen as ASOS and in late 2000 the domain name www.asos.com was bought.

B&M

Scousers love a B&M bargain

Bargains and More would really suffice but it actually stands for Billington & Mayman as it was set up by Malcolm Billington but shortened to B&M for Bargain Madness.

Set up in 1978 - Billington remained the company director until 1996.

B&Q

B & Q.(Pic Andrew Teebay).

Block & Quayle might sound a like a deep house duo who would do a six-hour set at Cream back in the day.

But Richard Block and David Quayle are actually the founders of B&Q.

Their joint business venture began after they purchased and fitted out a former furniture warehouse in a Southampton suburb.

The duo soon shortened the brand to B&Q as stock delivery notes and invoices were already unofficially abbreviating the name.

C&A

The retailer still has many stores in Europe despite there being none left in the UK after the last closed in 2001.

The company was founded by brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer in 1841 as a Dutch textile company before moving into clothes in the 1900s.

H&M

H&M is Swedish and was founded all the way back in 1947, although back then it was just known as Hennes. Originally the store sold exclusively women’s clothing, but when hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss was acquired, men’s wear was also included and 'H&M' combined the intials.

The first UK store opened in London in 1976 - this was also the first store to be built outside of Scandinavia.

H&M's Paradise Street store in Liverpool ONE is one of the stores where customers cna collect points

HSBC

Houses, Shoes, Boats and Cars are just some of the things you can buy if you take out a giant loan at HSBC but sadly that’s not what it stands for.

HSBC was actually founded by a Scotsman called Sir Thomas Sutherland in Hong Kong in 1865.

Back then Hong Kong was still a British colony.

HSBC benefited from the start of trading into China.

It wasn’t until the millennium that HSBC expanded into continental Europe after the acquisition of Credit Comercial de France. The initials stand for 'Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank'.

IKEA -

Set up in 1943 by a 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in Almhult, Sweden as a mostly mail-order sales business.

It wasn’t until after the Second World War that it began to sell furniture.

The first physical store opened in Almhult in 1958 before expanding to Europe in the 1970s and the UK in the 80s.

The Elmtaryd in IKEA is the farm where Kamprad grew up and the A stands for his hometown of Agunnaryd.

IKEA in Warrington
IKEA in Warrington

Lego

Lego is a Danish company which gets its name from the Danish saying ‘leg godt’ which translates to ‘play well’ in English.

Carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen birthed The Lego Group in his workshop in 1932.

In 1934 it became known simply as ‘Lego’.

Lego toys were originally wooden but production of plastic toys began in 1947.

The modern Lego brick design was patented in January 1958.

Lego is currently Brand Finance’s “world’s most powerful brand”.

A LEGO model of Liverpool Cathedral built by Peter Rogers from Stoneycroft which is on display at the Museum of Liverpool

QVC

Probably the easiest to guess as it sums up the service the shopping channel provides - Quality Value Convenience.

Although it can be argued that in 2017 the internet is much more convenient than having to observe a TV channel waiting for a deal to pop up.

QVC centre in Kirkby
QVC centre in Kirkby

The Knowsley Industrial Park-based QVC was set up by Joseph Segel in Pennsylvania in 1986 and it now broadcasts to more than 350 million households in seven countries across the globe.

A version of this story was published on the MEN online here .