There are a few different rumored ways this southern dessert got its name. Some say because the pie has the same colors as the marsupial.  Others think of the popular southern expression "playing possum", which means something is pretending to be something it is not. (Like when a possum plays dead to ward off prey.) They say this pie is playing possum because the whipped topping layer conceals the other layers beneath until you cut into the pie, leaving the decadent layered filling a surprise.