WD-40 is a staple of any tool box or garage, and it has a wide range of uses, from preventing rust to displacing moisture.
Many DIYers will have used it from time to time, but few will have any idea what the name of the product actually stands for.
People are only now just realising, after years of using the product, what it actually means, and it turns out their assumptions were way off.
WD-40 has more than 2,000 uses, and was first created in 1953 as a way to protect the outer skin of the US Atlas missile from rust and corrosion.
It was created by chemist Norm Larsen, who worked in a small lab in California and soon came up with the idea of selling it to the general public.
The product was made available across the US in 1958, and today it's available in 187 countries around the world.
Although many keen DIYers will have a can of WD-40 in their cupboard, few actually know what the acronym stands for.
In a recent tweet, American journalist David Muir asked his nearly 800k followers: "What does WD-40 stand for?"
Several people gave David the answer, but many had to Google it for themselves. However, many were surprised to learn it stands for Water Displacement, 40th formula.
The name is actually painfully obvious – it was the 40th attempt at making the formula.
One person shared: "It stands for 'Water Displacement,' which the inventor finally got right on his 40th try."
However, some people had their own ideas of what they thought it stood for. One person suggested: "Whistling doohicky 40" and another said: "Something degreaser".
"World Domination 40 is what it should be named!" joked a third.
Another person was quite close with their suggestion: "WD-40 means wrong decision 40 times to make the correct formula."
It turns out a lot of people are only just realising what popular brand acronyms stand for.
Recently, people were flabbergasted after finding out what the popular sports brand ASICS stood for, as it has quite a deep meaning.
People had a similar experience after realising that tea brand PG Tips actually stands for Pre-Gestee – a variant of their original name Digestive Tea, which implied it could be used as a digestive aid.
Shoppers were also shocked to learn that ASOS actually stands for As Seen On Screen.
Did you know what WD-40 stands for? Let us know in the comment section below.
