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Do you use the genericized brand name or the real word?

Love said:
Brands I generalize: (expanded)
Kleenex
Slurpee (instead of frozen soda drink)
I usually call any debit card or credit card a MasterCard
ATM or ABM I usually call "InstaBank" machines (™ of BMO Bank of Montreal)
Instead of laptop I usually just call it my Mac
DVRs/PVRs I call TiVO
Any courier service = FedEx
Verb/Using a courier service = FedExing
Polystyrene packaging foam = Styrofoam
Band-Aid = latex adhesive bandages
Click to expand...

What if your debit card is a Visa?
I never heard of an ABM before, but we here in the US call them ATMs.
I call my laptop a "Mac" well, because it is a MacBook.
DVRs/PVRs isn't a TiVo unless you can thumbs up and thumbs down the TV shows, and it annoys you during FF/Rewind.
Courier Service should be called by their respective names as to not confuse others...if you said FedEx to me and you're using UPS, I would be looking all over FedEx's website for the tracking number, and wondering why it won't track.
 
Well, the ones I generalize most are MasterCard, InstaBank, Kleenex and FedEx. The others I don't usually do as much. My debit card isn't even a MasterCard brand one - it's Interac/Cirrus/Maestro. All brands of MasterCard, but still. When I can, I always use FedEx. Motorola Brand Personal Video Recorder just sounds weird. Most people understand what i'm talking to them about.

"I'll FedEx you the Kleenex and the TiVo and I'll put the charges on my MasterCard."
"I will send you the facial tissue and the Motorola PVR with FedEx and I'll put the charges on my Interac Debit card."

I find the former easiest.
 
Here's a big one: Google.

I use that all the time. "Oh, just Google it."

Other's I'm guilty of...

Band-aid
Rollerskates
Kleenex
Advil
Refering to a "Defence Minister" for the states even though it's "Secretary of Defence"

Hmm can't think of any more around now.

Also, I've never, ever, heard of people refering to pop as coke. It's always been pop. (or maybe it's a Canadian thing?)

EDIT: Two more; Styrofoam. I didn't even know that was a brand name. And Q-Tips.
 
I genericize brands the people around me genericize. I never knew Styrofoam was a brand name or that rollerblade was a brand name.
 
AngryApple said:
I genericize brands the people around me genericize. I never knew Styrofoam was a brand name or that rollerblade was a brand name.
Click to expand...

No offenses to be made, or anything, but I am generalizing that most people from the south tend to use genericized brand names.
 
I use the word Spam for spam.
And for meat by-products.

But seriously, I don't think I saw Q-tips mentioned.
 
I guess because I've lived in several countries the brand names haven't stuck so much with me. People seem not to realize how much confusion using brand names for a generic product can cause, especially for non-native speakers. It also creates a certain amount of confusion the other way. When I was sick in the winter, I sent my wife (who is not a native English speaker) to Walgreens to get me some tissues. She couldn't find the ones I needed and asked a member of staff where she might find the tissues. The member of staff did not know what she was talking about until the light clicked: "ah! You mean Kleenex!" :rolleyes: Same thing happened when I asked for cotton swabs - "Oh! You mean Q-tips?"
 
mscriv said:
Every waiter in the South knows that when the customer says I'll have coke that you need to follow up with, "what kind?" :D
Click to expand...

That drove me nuts when I was in Georgia for a few months. First time I ordered a Coke and they asked "what kind?" I was very confused and stammered out "a-Cola". I'm from the northern end of Appalachia, everyone here calls soda "pop" and a remote control is a "clicker". I guess people are weirdos wherever you go.
 
Coke is Coca-Cola, if I mean another brand of soda, I call it by its name.

All tissues are Kleenexes.

A vacuum cleaner is a vacuum cleaner.

An iPod is made by Apple. If it's a generic MP3 player, I call it an MP3 player. If it's a Walkman made by Sony, I call it a Walkman.

A condom is a condom. If it's made by Trojan, then I call it a Trojan. If it's another brand, I usually just call it a condom.

All adhesive bandages are Band-Aids.

All weed-trimmers are Weed Eaters.

Can't think of any other ones.
 
Love said:
"I'll FedEx you the Kleenex and the TiVo and I'll put the charges on my MasterCard."
"I will send you the facial tissue and the Motorola PVR with FedEx and I'll put the charges on my Interac Debit card."

I find the former easiest.
Click to expand...

Well, you're kinda complicating it for no need. How about "I will send you the tissue and the PVR with FedEx and I'll put the charges on my Debit card."

EDIT: Since you're still using FedEx you could even say: "I'll FedEx you the tissue and the PVR and I'll put the charges on my Debit card."
 
We tend to keep to the generic name in the UK (with the notable exception of Coke). For example:

  • Plasters are plasters - not Band-Aids. Say 'Band-Aid' here and people will immediately think you mean a charity concert in the 1980s
  • Tissues are tissues, not usually Kleenex. Likewise, toilet-roll and kitchen-roll - not Andrex and Plenty
  • Ibuprofen, not Brufen or something else.
  • Paracetamol is paracetamol. If you ask for a specific brand of pain-killer, someone will say 'No, but we've got paracetamol'.
  • Sellotape is, however, Sellotape - not sticky-tape.
  • Weed trimmers are just 'strimmers'. Lawn mowers are 'mowers'.
  • Q-Tips don't exist. Cotton-buds do.
  • Photocopiers are photocopiers or just copiers. Xerox as a brand never really got into our national psyche.
  • In medicine, professionals and protocols will usually refer to drugs by their generic name rather than any single brand.
  • Cash machines are cash machines. Not ATMs or any specific name
  • Credit and debit cards are just that - or even just 'card'
  • I do use Google as a verb :)
 
Hoover - a vacuum cleaner
Escalator - moving stairway
Ewbank - a manual carpet sweeper
To Google - to use a search engine
Kerosene - a fuel for lamps
Nylon - a synthetic polymer
Velux - a type of window that goes in a pented roof
Aqua-Lung - underwater breathing apparatus
Aspirin - pain-killer drug
Lycra - a type of synthetic fiber known as spandex or elastane
 
covisio said:
Aqua-Lung - underwater breathing apparatus
Click to expand...

It's also a really cool song! And I now have it stuck in my head. :D

Another one most people don't realize is a brand name is Dumpster. Wikipedia says it is a type of mobile garbage bin, or MGB. Kind of awkward saying that one, though.

BTW, Wikipedia has a good article on this whole subject.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genericized_trademark
 
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