Someone in my office uses the brand names for everything, even in memos, such as Kleenex, Xerox, etc. Is there a word for "one who uses trademarks figuratively"?

I sure can't think of any, though it's common enough (I do it my own self).

Don't worry though: you'll probably get several coinages here.

I suspect it's so common that no need is felt for a word to describe it. We do it often without knowing it. Using cellophane tape rather than scotch tape does not get you off the hook, as Cellophane is or was a trademark, as is/was Aspirin. I believe Zipper may well fit into that category, too. Anyone know the generic term for Magic Marker®?

Anyone know the generic term for Magic Marker®?

Ooh - oooh! I do! I do!

felt-tip(ped) pen

Wrong, my dear ASp. That term is a bit *too generic. It covers many items which are not magic markers.

What is a Magic Marker?

A Magic Marker is a coloring device that uses any of many colors to flow through a rather large felt point. They are about the size of early elementary crayons -- the fat ones --but there's a flow of ink rather than color put down through a wax medium.

I suppose you could call them colored markers... but I cannot think of a good generic term. Felt tip markers wouldn't really work because those could be the pen-sized ones.

Hmmm.... Who's got the answer?

The magic marker on my desk (brand name MARKS-A-LOT®) claims to be a Permanent Marker, but even that is a little too generic for my tastes. It could easily include laundry markers, those felt tip pens that we used to write our names on the clothes we took to summer camp.

I would use the generic "permanent marker" to describe felt tip pens that apply a generally non-erasable ink. The
most typical examples of thistype of pen are the Sanford "Sharpie" pens (there's a red one in my pocket right now)
and the "El Marko" pens. Both of these pens have a strong odor because the pigment is dissolved in a fast-drying
(and therefore volatile) solvent. You have to be careful with them or they will stain your posts.

But permanent markers are permanent. What about all those markers that are used for coloring by kids and teachers? We aren't allowed to use permanent markers because the ink is toxic.

I think "markers" is probably the generic term, whether permanent or otherwise.

Cute! Very cute!

In reply to:

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But permanent markers are permanent. What about all those markers that are used for coloring by kids and teachers? We aren't allowed to use permanent markers because the ink is toxic.

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I agree. Your basic Crayola felt tip pen is a "magic marker" or just "marker." There's also the dry-erase marker, whose smell I hate worse than a permanent marker. Instant headache.

I'm having way too much fun with these colors. Takes the edge off oncology...

I've actually taken to calling them Sharpies, Magic Markers are *so* 5 minutes ago!

Sharpies and Magic Markers are two very different things. Sharpies are gazelles, Magic Markers are moose.

I have always called them big felts and crayon felts, because that is how they were divided up at nursery school. On the subject of brand names, is biro a brand name? I have a feeling it is. What would the generic name be?

Biro is a brand name. USns call them ball point pens. FWIW ball point pen might its own self be a trade mark. The first pen to be called a ball point pen was what we call a fountain pen. It had to do with the shape of the nib.

Dear Faldage: A fountain pen used liquid ink contained in a rubber bladder that was
compressed to drive out air, and let resulting vacuum draw up ink. A leading maker
of liquid in pens said that the ballpoint was the only pen that would make six carbon
copies but no original. The ball points sixty years ago were maddeningly unreliable.
The Parkers I spent big bucks on then are now junk.

yes, long ago, feathers were cut into pens with pen knives, and as they got worn, they were re-cut into a sharp point, and carefully split. then, sometime during the industrial revolution, steel nibs, that could slip into wooden holder became popular, and these, had pointed nibs, just like the feather ones.. but steel is much harder than a quill, and you had to write with a light hand.(and nibs were made out of other metal, most popular gold) or risk tearing the paper, or making a blot.
then someone (parker? waterman?) designed a ball tip to a steel nib. it was safer, smoother, and less likely to tear the paper.. Most fountain pens today have this style nib.
(pen's were also made out of glass!)
(as a curiosity, i have a "teacher's supply" box of steel nibs, and several of the wooden pen bodies to hold them.. as well as a number of different pens and nibs for caligraphy. i have even made my own inks.. (batchalor buttons, crushed in alcohol (denatured) make the pretties blue ink.. darker than sky, but still pretty light blue)

The secret of the Parker, Waterman and other pens when I was young, was that the nib
tip was a split globule of iridium, which had a very long life. I would not call it a ball.

We had a discussion a while back on AWAD about the density of minerals. Iridium, according to Stales, I'm pretty sure, was the most dense. I can't recall which was the least dense, although ice was not very dense--there was something less dense than ice, however...

I guess you wouldn't want a pen with a tip made of ice!

I suppose I should do a search here on "iridium" to get my facts straight...

Iridium [Ir] [77] - Chemical element datasheet - Periodic Table ... - ... Iridium,
Symbol: Ir ... with platinum. Use(s): Used with osmium to tip gold pen points, to make crucible
and special containers. Also to ...
http://www.vcs.ethz.ch/chemglobe/ptoe/_/77.html (Search within this site)

Without thinking, I used a word very similar to tek Ni Kolor in my newspaper column without using the strict format. My editor received a nasty letter with a threat of legal action from the law firm that acts as the copyright watchdog for some company or other that makes colour for movies under a very similar name.

David (c)

Carpe whatever

My Pharmacology Consultant uses the term "medical mishap waiting to happen".