My friend in Scotland called me the other day and said she was tired because she had spent the whole morning “hoovering.”
Because of her accent, I thought she’d said “hovering,” so I asked her, “Hovering over what?”
She laughed and said, “No, hoovering! You know, cleaning the carpet?”
After we hung up, I searched online for the term out of curiosity. It said hoovering referred to using a vacuum cleaner, and it originated back in the 1920s when Hoover was hugely popular in the United Kingdom.
It struck me funny that my friend still used the term “hoovering,” even though she probably was using some other brand like Bissell, Shark, Dyson, etc.
Anyway, our conversation made me recall a list I once was sent by the editor of a newspaper in which I was writing a regular column. The list dealt with trademarked names that people too often used as everyday terms. She instructed me to avoid using the trademarked names and use their generic equivalents instead.
This is just a small sample from that list:
TRADEMARKED BRAND USE INSTEAD
POPSICLE Ice pop
KLEENEX Facial tissue
THERMOS Vacuum bottle
SCOTCH TAPE Cellophane tape
JELL-O Gelatin dessert
VASELINE Petroleum jelly
VELCRO Hook and loop fastener
Q-TIPS Cotton swabs
ESCALATOR Moving staircase
NOVOCAIN Local anesthesia
YO-YO Bandalore
FRISBEE Plastic throwing disc
BAND-AID Adhesive bandage strip
XEROX Copy Machine
I don’t know, but writing something like: “After I ate my
gelatin dessert, I fastened the hook-and-loop strips on my sneakers, then took
the moving staircase up to the roof where I met my friend and we played with my
plastic throwing disc and my bandalore,” just doesn’t sound…natural (especially
“bandalore,” which probably is open to interpretation because no one knows what
the heck it is).
Which reminds me…”Wite-Out” is a trademarked name for correction fluid.
# # #
Sally Breslin is an
award-winning syndicated humor columnist who has written regularly for
newspapers and magazines all of her adult life. She is the author of several
novels in a variety of genres, from humor and romance to science fiction.
Contact her at: sillysally@att.net
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