![](\"https:\/\/dailyspire.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/lego-box.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nIf you have no clue what LEGO actually means, prepare to <\/p>\n
be shocked at what this four-letter word really stands for.<\/p>\n
A crucial part of most people\u2019s childhood (and adulthood as well,<\/p>\n
with their range of collectibles inspired by film and TV), the <\/p>\n
sometimes dangerous brick-building game may be so ingrained in<\/p>\n
our pop culture that very few have stopped to think what LEGO really means.<\/p>\n
As it turns out, the Danish brand funded by carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen<\/p>\n
wasn\u2019t all about building toys. Not originally, anyway.<\/p>\n
It all dates back to the Great Depression, as in the global financial<\/p>\n
crisis of 1929, which forced Kristiansen to think outside the box and come up with new ways to keep his business afloat.<\/p>\n
The LEGO founder came up with a new name for his business in 1935.<\/p>\n
(JONATHAN NACKSTRAND\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
He set out to make new easy saleable products\u2019 such as producing ladders, <\/p>\n
ironing boards and other everyday items. To maximise profits,<\/p>\n
the entrepreneur expanded into wooden toys production in 1932.<\/p>\n
By 1935, the toys branch of his business had become so profitable<\/p>\n
that Christiansen decided to come up with a new name for it.<\/p>\n
According to LEGO\u2019s website, \u201cKristiansen allegedly holds a competition<\/p>\n
among his employees to find a good name for the business. The competition<\/p>\n
winner (who can claim the prize of a bottle of Ole<\/p>\n
Kirk Christiansen\u2019s homemade wine) is \u2026 Ole Kirk Christiansen himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brace yourself for the revelation of what LEGO means, and that\u2019s in fact two words, not one.<\/p>\n
Christiansen\u2019s winning entry in the competition was a blend of the Danish <\/p>\n
words \u2018LEG GODT\u2019 which means \u2018Play Well\u2019 and the new name is \u2018officially used\u2019 from January 1936.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intention of the name is to reflect quality and children\u2019s right to enjoyable play,\u201d LEGO\u2019s site explains.<\/p>\n
And reflecting on his decision to focus on toy production,<\/p>\n
Christiansen reportedly wrote in a letter: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until <\/p>\n
the day I told myself, \u2018You\u2019ll either have to drop your old craft<\/p>\n
or put toys out of your head\u2019 that I began to see the long-term consequences.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We could\u2019ve not guessed this one. (Sean Gallup\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the decision turned out to be the right one.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not taken long for people to flock to social media<\/p>\n
to weigh in on the historical background and meaning behind the LEGO company\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
One Twitter\/X user said: \u201cThat is interesting,\u201d while another added: \u201cFun with linguistics.\u201d<\/p>\n
A third joked: \u201cI thought it meant foot killer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it meant \u2018painful at 2am,\u201d a fourth said.<\/p>\n
And a final commented: \u201cSynonym: floor weapon. Painful when stepped on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you have no clue what LEGO actually means, prepare to be shocked at what this four-letter word really stands for. A crucial part of most people\u2019s childhood (and adulthood as well, with their range of collectibles inspired by film and TV), the sometimes dangerous brick-building game may be so ingrained in our pop culture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnewsin34.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnewsin34.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnewsin34.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnewsin34.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnewsin34.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18191"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/topnewsin34.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18193,"href":"https:\/\/topnewsin34.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18191\/revisions\/18193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnewsin34.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnewsin34.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnewsin34.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnewsin34.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}