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Text File  |  1992-11-17  |  2.2 KB  |  49 lines
  1. Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
  2. Path: sparky!uunet!charon.amdahl.com!pacbell.com!sgiblab!darwin.sura.net!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!sdd.hp.com!hpscit.sc.hp.com!scd.hp.com!hpscdm!hplextra!rigel!evan
  3. From: evan@hpl.hp.com (Evan Kirshenbaum)
  4. Subject: Re: Things go better with cola-flavored soft drinks
  5. Sender: news@hplabsz.hpl.hp.com (News Subsystem (Rigel))
  6. Message-ID: <1992Nov17.233643.27443@hplabsz.hpl.hp.com>
  7. Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 23:36:43 GMT
  8. Reply-To: kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com
  9. References: <Bxnx3p.3w1@news.cso.uiuc.edu> <97508@netnews.upenn.edu> <1992Nov14.213151.6354@dg-rtp.dg.com>
  10. Nntp-Posting-Host: hplerk.hpl.hp.com
  11. Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
  12. Lines: 35
  13.  
  14. In article <1992Nov14.213151.6354@dg-rtp.dg.com> cochran@spam.rtp.dg.com (A. Jing Hippy) writes:
  15. >There is a whole *list* of things that are used in everyday speech in
  16. >various parts of the country that come from trademarks.  Some of them have
  17. >been around so long that many people don't even recognize them as
  18. >trademarks any more.
  19. >
  20. >ping-pong
  21. >kleenex
  22. >kotex
  23. >xerox
  24. >frigidaire (it is not uncommon to hear a refrigerator referred to using
  25. >            this word in the southeastern U.S.)
  26. >jello (as mentioned)
  27. >band-aid (as mentioned)
  28. >crisco
  29.  
  30. From the Oxford Companion to the English Language ("Trademark"):
  31.  
  32.       Everyday words of English that were once trademarks (some now
  33.       universal, some more common in one variety of English than
  34.       another, some dated, all commonly written without an initial
  35.       capital) include aspirin, band-aid, cellophane, celluloid,
  36.       cornflakes, dictaphone, escalator, granola, hoover, kerosene,
  37.       lanolin, mimeograph, nylon, phonograph, shredded wheat, zipper.
  38.       Trademarks facing difficulties include Astroturf, Dacron,
  39.       Formica, Frisbee, Hovercraft, Jacuzzi, Laundromat, Mace, Muzak,
  40.       Q-Tips, Scotch Tape, Styrofoam, Teflon, Vaseline, Xerox.
  41.  
  42. Evan Kirshenbaum               +------------------------------------
  43.     HP Laboratories               | Never ascribe to malice that which
  44.     3500 Deer Creek Road, Building 26U | can adequately be explained by
  45.     Palo Alto, CA  94304           | stupidity.
  46.                        | 
  47.     kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com           | 
  48.     (415)857-7572
  49.