What's In A Word?

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I Guess Marketing Didn't Like "Duparooh"

"Nylon" is an arbitrary phrase coined by du Pont chemists in 1938. It doesn't stand for anything, although the "-on" suffix is the same as the end of "rayon" which in turn was taken from "cotton."

In 1978, du Pont claimed that the name is based on some permutations of "no run." This explanation seems horribly strained.

Other explanations commonly proffered without evidence include that "ny" stands for the New York World's Fair of 1939, where nylon was on public display. Or that the name is an acronym for New York-London, because it was jointly developed by chemists in both locales (which is not the case, it was invented in Delaware). Even wilder is the belief that it stands for "Now, You Lousy Old Nips."

Documented: The du Pont Co. has claimed (1940) that "nylon" was an arbitrary coinage, but also (1978) that it was a modification of "no run" spelled backwards.

References:

• AFU Archive: Etymology of Nylon