Unlike its old moniker, a Mount Vernon eatery’s new name has no allusion to male genitalia.

The Ames Hall venue ZeBi has changed its name to Zime, though its menu of flatbread sandwiches, salads and baked goods will remain the same. Amin Bonnah, an Arabic professor at GW, said he has a hunch about why food provider Sodexo wanted to change the name.

In most Arabic dialects, “Zebi” sounds like the word for “penis,” Bonnah said.

“Perhaps, someone was aware of the implication in Arabic of the first word, so they wanted to avoid that by changing the ‘B’ to ‘M,'” he said in an email.

University spokesman Kurtis Hiatt said the name change is part of Sodexo’s rebranding effort, but declined to answer further questions. Sodexo is changing the name ZeBi, which stands for Zest Bistro, at all of the shop’s locations.

ZeBi opened in Ames Hall in 2012 after the building underwent 18 months of renovations.