A closer look
Ah, yes, the pinnacle of human maturity: turning a harmless arcade game into a crude joke. Namco's masterpiece was initially called 'Puck-Man' in Japan, referencing the 'paku-paku' sound of eating. However, when preparing for a US release, executives realized that English-speaking teenagers with a sharp object and too much free time could easily scratch away part of the 'P' to create the most famous four-letter word in the English language. So, they changed it to Pac-Man, saving parents from having to explain why their kids were dropping quarters into a machine named after a profanity.
