I.W.W. Stands for Industrial Workers of the World of course, but has led to numerous other interpretations of the name, such as "I Won't Work", "I Want Whiskey", "International Wonder Workers", and "Irresponsible Wholesale Wreckers". On August 17, 1917, the Arizonan Senator Henry F. Ashurst even declared that "I.W.W. means simply, solely and only, Imperial Wilhelm's Warriors", falsely alleging a link between the I.W.W. and German emperor Wilhelm II.[1]
International Workers of the World The union has also often been mistakingly called "International Workers of the World". The conservative media pundit Rush Limbaugh blamed the anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle in 1999 on the "International Workers of the World". In the indexes of the books Timber Wars by Judi Bari and Been and Done by Gipsy Moon, the I.W.W. was incorrectly listed under this name, although they were correctly named in the text. Fred Chase once joked that the Industrial Workers of the World should ask the International Workers of the World to join up, since they're such a large and influential organization. This mistake happens commonly, although the word International would obviously be redundant because of the words of the World.[2]
Wobbly Many believe it refers to a tool known as a "wobble saw. One often repeated anecdote has it that a sympathetic Chinese restaurant owner in Vancouver would extend credit to IWW members and, unable to pronounce the "W", would ask if they were a member of the "I Wobble Wobble."[3] Another explanation is that the term was first used pejoratively by San Francisco Socialists around 1913 and adopted by IWWs as a badge of honor.[4] In any case, the nickname has existed since the union's early days and is still used today.
