We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how HARIBO is actually an acronym (explains why it’s in all caps, right?).
We’ve even shared the pop culture reason why Wagon Wheels got their name.
But what about Marmite, the divisive delicacy that feels quintessentially British to so many? How did it get its “love-it-or-hate-it” brand name?
Well, it turns out that Marmite’s name’s origin is French ― and it refers to a specific part of the food’s storage.
Why is it called “Marmite?”
According to the Marmite Museum, the product was launched on Friday the 13th of 1902 (lucky or unlucky, depending on your tastebuds).
It was invented after a German scientist “accidentally discovered that the waste product derived from yeast used in brewing beer could be made into a meaty flavoured concentrate that was completely vegetarian.”
This led him to found the Liebig Extract of Meat Company, which eventually became OXO. Later, the substance that would become known as Marmite was developed using the same basic process.
And per The Daily Maverick, “It’s called Marmite because it used to be made in, and even sold in, earthenware pots called, in French, a marmite, pronounced mah-meet.”
The origins are even reflected on the jars’ labels now ― “That’s the little cauldron-like pot you still see on a jar of Marmite today.”
Indeed Collins’ French-English dictionary translates “marmite” to “cooking pot.”
The company stopped selling those in the 1920s and replaced them with the iconic yellow-capped jars we know today, the publication adds.
Huh. Anything else?
Yep ―the Marmite Museum says that in 1974, there was a shortage of Marmite’s signature jar, so they temporarily used regular ones instead.
And even though most of us associate that iconic yellow plastic cap with the product now, it originally caused an outcry as the public didn’t like the change from a metal lid in 1984.
You can see the original earthenware pot on their site if you like, too.