People Are Just Realising Why Oyster Cards Are Called That, And It's Clever

Oyster cardLife is full of so many little mysteries, like what those little buttons on suit jacket sleeves are really for and why there’s sometimes a little “v” under your sweater’s collar.And after reading a recent post shared to Reddit’s r/london, I realised I’d been carrying one such puzzle in my pocket for years. “When I first came to the UK to study, I was always very curious about why the UK’s subway card has the nickname ‘Oyster Card,’” u/Deep-Ad-3363 wrote.Here’s the history behind the marine-themed name:Why are they called “Oyster cards”?Per TfL, the commuter staple could have been named “Pulse” or “Gem” cards. But of the three shortlisted options, “Oyster” won out. Launched in 2003, the card was created with TranSys, which contracted Saatchi and Saatchi Design to help work on the branding. Saatchi, in turn, worked with Andrew McCrum, then of Blue Sky Enterprise at the time and now of Appella name consultants. An archived page on Appella’s site reads: “OYSTER was conceived, mainly, because of the metaphorical implications of security and value in the hard bivalve shell and the concealed pearl.“Its associations with London through Thames estuary oyster beds and the major relevance of the popular idiom ‘the world is your oyster’ were also significant factors in its selection.” The company added that the unique sound of the word, and its “sophistication” – as well as the marine theme of Hong Kong’s Octopus card – were added bonuses.And the name made the design easier and more playful, too.People were pretty surprised by the connection“Assumed it was because they came in a clamshell-like wallet,” u/Mattdabes replied to the original Reddit post.“I’ll never forget our first time in London aged 18 and my friend asked for ‘a mussel card’ by mistake,” u/kaiaemeli added. And u/Annual-Load3869 wrote, “I always assumed it was ‘world’s your oyster’ but that’s pretty interesting”. Who knew...Related...I Just Learned Why Suit Jackets Have Sleeve Buttons, And I Had No IdeaI Just Learned When We're Actually Meant To Use Mouthwash, And I've Never Done It RightI Just Learned The 'Correct' Way To Use An Electric Toothbrush, And Nobody I Know Does It Right

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