The big news in publishing this week is that Random House and Penguin publishers are maybe sorta kinda thinking of merging. This would effectively bring “The Big Six” down to “The Big Five.”

The question on everyone’s mind: Penguin House or Random Penguin?

I, for one, prefer Penguin House. It has a more timeless appeal than Random Penguin.

In trying to think of a clever joke that hasn’t already been done to death on the internet, I stumbled in the starting blocks, and am now fascinated by the name Random House.

Seriously. Am I just tired, or is that a really goofy name for a publishing company?

A photo of a random house in Dublin. (Actually, it’s not at all random; it’s the childhood home of Oscar Wilde – who, incidentally, has been published by both Penguin AND Random House.)