Etymology of Viagra

[Steve Kl.]

>From http://prn.usm.my/viagra/israel.html

Originally, the drug now known as Viagra was called "UK 92-480" because it
was invented at Pfizer's United Kingdom laboratories in 1992. Later, the
active ingredient was given the official chemical name of "sildenafil
citrate." In 1997, as Pfizer prepared to market the drug, the company
began searching for a trade name. Like other drug companies, Pfizer
maintains a "name bank" composed of freshly coined words that have been
tested by professional linguists to ensure that they have no meaning in
any language -- or, as Brinkley puts it, "to see if it means something
horrible like 'Your mother has a mustache.' "

Searching on "Pfizer" "Viagra" "coinage" as well as "Pfizer" "Viagra"
"word" and various other combinations yields some interesting, bizarre,
and weird links.


-- Steve Kl.