Off The Cuff

Thoof Name..Whassup With That?

Posted by: From Arkansas in Are You Kidding Me?, Business news, Odds And Ends on Aug 08 2007

Welcome back!

Ever heard of something called Thoof? No, it is not a veggie. Nope, not a magic trick. No! It isn’t the latest band. My goodness. You should try to guess a little better. The fact is, Thoof is a website for people who simply want to know what’s going on in the world. They have this terrific personalized news service that allows anyone who wants to be heard to post a news or related article. Then, others can add to it, improve it, do whatever it takes to make the story interesting.

They have this little tag that you can add to your post after you put it up on your blog. It’s called a “ThoofRank” badge. Okay, you guessed that one. It ranks your post in a percentage showing how interesting a story or article is to the readers. Not bad either. I have used the ThoofRank badge on several of my stories and articles and it certainly shows that people are interested.

Now, about that name. Where did it come from? Who knows. One of the rumors flying around is that a waitress was serving this table at a Bistro one day. There were four guys sitting at one of her tables and were in a rather intense conversation. Being the nosy soul that she is, she heard them mention some really new and innovative website that was about to be launched but it had no name. They were debating the merits of several but none seemed to be just right.

One guy was saying “We have got to get this name just right or it’s gonna bomb like the last three that tried this.” A couple of the guys were engrossed in eating their meals and didn’t comment. The fourth was getting more and more bored with the discussion. “I simply do not see why we have to talk this to death. We find a name and use it. How difficult can this possibly be?”

Meanwhile, the waitress was straining to hear the conversation from the table of four while wiping down a counter that didn’t need it. She loved to gossip and thought this would be prime info for her friends. But, she also really wanted to avoid the next table where there were three high school students chattering away, getting louder and louder.

Having given up on listening to the men for the moment, she was taking an order two tables away from the students when she heard, “Hey, Alice! Get me a coke, okay? I need somethin’ to wash down this peanut butter! ALICE!!!” he screamed!

Alice sighed and nodded. She wasn’t about to get in trouble again because of the owner’s kid. As she walked past the high schoolers, the one that hollered crammed a sandwich into his mouth and started to talk with his mouth full, which is a truly nasty habit (Despite his good upbringing, he could not get the concept of closing his mouth). The kid was spewing out the contents as he spoke. Of course, no one could understand him, not even the friends who were now trying desperately to look like they didn’t know him.

When poor Alice did not respond as quickly as the kid expected, he shouted out “Alith, thith thandwith ith thwithing thoof. I can’t thwallow it!!! Get me that coke!!”

Suddenly, the bored guy jumped up from his chair, which skittered across the floor, shouted “That’s IT!!” and took off out the door, leaving his shocked friends to pick up the check.

Not long after, the website called “Thoof” was launched. Now, I have to tell you. That was just a rumor. Hey, it could have been something really silly like…shouting into a hole to see what the echo sounded like. Personally, I believe the rumor.

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