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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Mostly I say "dishwasher soap" for the automatic machine - or use a brand name like Calgon or Electrosol - and say "dish liquid" for the stuff you hand-wash dishes with or use a brand and specify "Palmolive liquid."
I say "hand soap" for the bars used in the bathroom; Ivory, Pears, etc..
Washing up is what I say when I mean I am going to wash my face and hands. Confused a gentleman from Australia when I arrived for our date and asked if he "...would mind waiting a minute so I can wash up?" meaning that I wanted to use the bathroom to wash my hands and face, touch up the makeup etc, before we went out. He looked blank for a second, put it together quickly and all worked out fine.
As to Brand Names - i.e. - Xerox, Kleenex, Palmolive, Calgon, Electrosol, Ivory, Pears, Coca-Cola, Coke, Pepsi-Cola - some reporter at our paper used the word "coke" to substitute for "cold soft drink" (the meaning was clear in context) and the Editor got a letter from the Coca-Cola Company - politely but firmly worded - pointing out that Coke is a proprietary name and should not be used as a substitute for all soft (non-alcoholic) drinks! And we were just a little weekly newpaper tucked away on the New Hampshire seacoast!
The Associated Press Stylebook has tons of entries on brand names that must be capitalized ! helen of troy is 100 percent kerrekt.
In the "As" alone - to state a few - : A&P (The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company,) Academy Awards, Ace (the bandages,) Actor's Equity Association; Adrenalin (trademarked name for epinephrine,)
Adventist (variant for Seventh Day Adventist,) Aer Lingus, Aeroflot, Aeromexico, Air Canada, Air Jamaica, Air France, Air India etc etc etc, AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industtrial Organizations,) A-frame, African, AIDS, Alcoa (Aluminum Comapny of America,) Alzheimer's disease, Amtrak, AMVETS, Anglican Communion, Axis (alliance of Germany, Italy, Japan in WW II.) Then, under "Awards and decorations" reporters are instructed to capitalize Bronze Star, Medal of Honor and to consult entries re Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize.
And I left out a lot - like holidays and agency names.
One more thing:
Pot holder - we also call "takers."
Aincha' sorry you asked?
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
You'll know that google rather than GoogleŽ has made it as an independent verb or noun when the Finns name a tango after it. 
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 104
member
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member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 104 |
Well, I guess you all know more than I do......it seems I have made a habit of presenting misinformation on this board :(
I guesss my Economics professor did not know what he was talking about.........
I still say the companies love having *their* brand name bandied about as a generic term for a type of product. For instance, Kleenex.....If a person knows they need to buy "kleenex" at the store, are they not more likely to buy Kleenex brand once they see the array of brands of facial tissues on the shelf?....simply because that is the brand they are more familiar with, due to the generic use of the word "kleenex" ??? I would Think the companies would love that!
They are foolish not to love that, imho, because that is virtually free advertisement by word of mouth. I don't believe that it diminishes the strength of their brand name.
I used to work for Hallmark.....and I know for a fact that Hallmark (although I'm sure someone will present facts to prove me wrong) wanted the use of their name to mean "greeting card" as in: "I need to run down and buy a hallmark for Mom for Mother's Day."
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
We playing slippery slope here. If they lose the rights to the trademarked name then anyone can call their greeting cards hallmarks.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
We call'em kleenex but I never buy the brand name. They're too soft and disintegrate under precisely the sort of stress they are designed to be used for. It's one of those occasions where I prefer the no-name brand. (Store brand is the equivalent USn term, I think.) They're scratchier but don't "melt" as easily.
And I also say dish soap, Zed, but that's probably not surprising, given our common country of origin.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
Store brand is the equivalent USn term, I think.
Better known in these parts as 'generic' brand. Store brand usually means 'with a wrapper that has the stores name on it'... which is often less expensive than "name brands, but a little more expensive than 'generic'.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Thanks, I'd always wondered what exactly "store brand" meant when I'd read it in magazines, etc. Here the store brands have their own names depending on the chain involved (Safeway - "Safeway Select", any store owned by Loblaws - "President's Choice", any store owned by IGA/Sobeys monster conglomerate - "Our Compliments") and I never had a word to consider them all as a group. The step below the store brand is affectionately called "No-name brand", as mentioned above - it's the one with the plain-coloured packaging with just the name of the product on the front. "No-name brand" is one of those great names to use for a group when you're stuck doing some stupid group team-building games and you're instructed to pick a name for your group.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
There was an early music group that sang in the Ithaca area a few years back called The Ensemble Sine Nomine. I generally refered to them as The No Name Bunch.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
I'd bet a google of Sine Nomine would bring up many groups with that name. musicians being so clever and all.. 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
And if it were a bunch of mathematicians in the singing group, it might just be Sine Cosine.
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