Friday, February 01, 2008

Chocolate Names

What’s in a name? A rose is a rose by any other name – so said Shakespeare. The same thing can be said about chocolate. The taste of chocolate is not going to differ because of a change in the name.

There are many stories as to how the name chocolate came about. For something that has existed for centuries it is not a surprise that there are so many stories associated with its name. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary and many other dictionaries and sources for that matter, the word is derived from the Nahuatl language. This was the language spoken by the Aztecs. So, according to this source chocolate is derived from the word chocolatl. But, others beg to differ. According to some there was no such word in any language ancient or not. This word was coined by the Spaniards by taking the Maya word chocol and replacing the Maya word for water with the Aztec word atl. In yet another story the word is supposed to be derived from Maya word chokola’j which to drink chocolate together.

Some of the most famous brands of chocolates have the same name as that of their company. For instance Nestle. There are others who have different name their chocolates. Again Nestle comes to mind. Kit kat is a famous brand by itself. Not everyone is aware that it is manufactured by Nestle. Same goes for toblerone and many other varieties of chocolates. There are many stories behind the naming of various chocolates whereas some of them have very simple reasons for having their names.