Why does everything have weird names? Every container, shelf, cabinet or appliance had some odd name, as if people from Planet Sweden anthropomorphized these objects, naming each one they encountered as best they could: Besta, Hedda, Bjarnum, Lerberg, Inreda, Ektorp, Grundton, Berta, Karna…

According to Wikipedia, it turns out IKEA follows a certain naming convention based on Scandinavian words:

Upholstered furniture, coffee tables, rattan furniture, bookshelves, media storage, doorknobs: Swedish placenames

Beds, wardrobes, hall furniture: Norwegian place names

Dining tables and chairs: Finnish place names

Bookcase ranges: Occupations

Bathroom articles: Scandinavian lakes, rivers and bays

Kitchens: grammatical terms, sometimes also other names

Chairs, desks: men’s names

Materials, curtains: women’s names

Garden furniture: Swedish islands

Carpets: Danish place names

Lighting: terms from music, chemistry, meteorology, measures, weights, seasons, months, days, boats, nautical terms

Bedlinen, bed covers, pillows/cushions: flowers, plants, precious stones; words related to sleep, comfort, and cuddling

Children’s items: mammals, birds, adjectives

Curtain accessories: mathematical and geometrical terms

Kitchen utensils: foreign words, spices, herbs, fish, mushrooms, fruits or berries, functional descriptions

Boxes, wall decoration, pictures and frames, clocks: colloquial expressions, also Swedish placenames

Continue reading about IKEA’s naming convention on wikipedia

Thanks Koala for posting this coupon in the coupons forum .Save $1 upon the purchase of 1 bag of Europe’s best frozen fruits or vegetables.

Click here to print this coupon.

Thanks Couponsaver for letting us know about this Danone coupon 🙂

Get $1 off the purchase of any Danone Naturalia product

Click here to print out these Danone coupons

Coupons expire Jan 31, 2008

Print 4″ x 6″ or 4″ x 5.33″ digital photos for 11cents only at IGA.

Click here for more details on this IGA Photo promo

Offer valid until January 14, 2008 

Get $25 off your purchase of $50 or more at Please Mum online or in-store.

The online coupon code is PMGIFT2YOU

Coupon valid from Jan 14 – Feb 3, 2008

Click here to visit Please Mum’s website

Costco Canada posts its in-store coupons online. You can view the coupons at GetMoreOfWhatYouLove.ca

Click here to view the Costco Eastern Canada coupons

Click here to view the Costco Western Canada coupons

So that loser company known as Giant Tiger has finally decided to place its flyer online.

To view the Giant Tiger flyer click here and enter your postal code at the bottom.

Wondering why I hate Giant Tiger? well here’s my story:

I used to scan every new Giant Tiger flyer and post it on SmartCanucks.ca for all Canadians to read and then go shop at Giant Tiger. Giant Tiger is 15 minutes driving from where I live and I didn’t have a car so I used to take the bus, pick up the flyer, take a bus back, and do the tedious job of scanning 20 pages and then posting them on SmartCanucks.ca blog. Guess how I was rewarded by Giant Tiger? They got their lawyer to email me asking me to remove their flyer or they would take legal action . I complied, and only posted the flyer on the forum where regular registered members could only see it. They emailed me again asking for their flyers to be completely removed.

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Get a FREE copy of the best selling cookbook Eat, Shrink and Be Merry! with the purchase of 5 participating Dempster’s products plus $6 shipping and handling.

Loaded with great tasting recipes that won’t go from your lips to your hips, it is a must have for the health conscious cook! Thanks koala!

Click here for information.

According to the P&G Brandsaver booklet in the paper this morning you can find mail in rebates for a free 2 count Magic Eraser at participating stores.  I took a look through the book to see if I could find what the participating stores were, but couldn’t find anything.  I assume it will be the big stores like WalMart, Zellers and grocery stores but that’s just a guess. ;)  Offer valid until April 30, 2008. 

A blog reader (Beryl H.) left a comment about IKEA’s recent commercial.

Dear To Whom It May Concern,

I have watched your recent advertisement with some alarm, I do not know if you realize that you are encouraging theft, cheating and dishonesty – “Start the car, start the car” Many of my friends have voiced the same concern – If someone shoplifts, I gather you are not going to prosecute them, an idealistic thought, but your profits will plummet, I suggest you have a word with your advertising agency

Yours truly,

Beryl H.

Here’s the commercial:

[youtube]6C7oqXewyCE[/youtube]

Although I do not personally find the commercial offensive (nor is it funny), I can understand how it may give children a wrong idea. But that’s not the first time IKEA has had a controversial ad. The infamous dog picture was much more disturbing, and remember the Canadian flyer with the photo of a child reading a Mickey Spillane book?

What do you think of IKEA’s Winter Ad? Does it promote Dishonesty?

For a limited time amazon.com is having a 50% off sale on select Blue Ray disks.   Although this is the American site, with our dollar being so strong you might be able to find a good deal or two, even with shipping charges to Canada. ;) 

Click here for information.

Order a free sample of Lacoste for Men.

Click here to order.

So I lied, it’s £4.99 not $ since Woolworths doesn’t exist in Canada anymore. But still, for that price it’s a bargain. Guess I’ll be buying one of these on my next trip to England.

*Warning: May contain traces of sadness and depression.

[via neatorama]

The P&G brandSaver coupons are back!   The actual booklet of P&G coupons  will be in newspapers on or before January 5, 2008 so keep an eye out for these valuable coupons! If you don’t receive the coupon book, starting on January 5 you can also find the brandsaver coupons online at brandsaver.ca.   If your ordering them via the brandsaver website, there is a limit of 20 coupons in a 24 hour period and you cannot order multiple coupons.  Enjoy everyone!  Thanks Koala :) 

Click here for more information.

I was at Shoppers this morning and was given a flyer advertising that they are having another spend $50 get a free $10 cash card promotion.   Promotion event is on Saturday January 5 and Sunday January 6.  This cash card is good at Swiss Chalet, Harvey’s, Kelsey’s, Montana’s Cookhouse and Milestones.  The card is valid until January 31, 2008. 

Purchase restrictions:

Offer valid on the purchase total of eligible products after discounts and redemption’s and before taxes. Excludes prescriptions, products that contain codeine, tobacco products (where applicable), stamps, lottery tickets, event tickets, transit tickets and passes, electronic gift cards, Life Experience^® packages and pre-paid phone cards. We reserve the right to substitute an item of equivalent value.

Click here for information.