TheTangoCBC: Kleenex maker says famous tissues to be wiped out of Canada soon, citing 'unique complexities'
It’s called a genericized trademark. There’s plenty, including aspirin and heroin.
It’s also common to call these Kleenex in the US.
XillyI assume velcro is another one?
Yep, that’s why there’s so many things called hook and loop, to avoid the trademark.
Hoover is one, where I am at least
Americans don’t usually use Hoover to refer to a vacuum as a noun like the Brits do, though. It’s sometimes used as a verb though.
Saran wrap was one from my childhood, mum still uses a lot of these, I mostly say cling film these days
Also sellotape instead of sticky tape.
Xerox, linoleum
What’s the generic for linoleum? I wasn’t aware that this was a brand name
cyanarchyI had to look this up. The inventor never trademarked the name and it was used by a competitor almost immediately. He lost a lawsuit over linoleum becoming a generic term 14 years after it’s invention. There were other brand names but linoleum became a generic term almost as soon as the product was widespread.
Is Teflon a genericized trademark? Not sure I’d there’s any diff between that and Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)?
ShakeThatYamI heard that in the South every carbonated beverage is a Coke. However, I don’t understand how this works practically. If you wanted a Sprite, would you order a Coke-Sprite?
No, you’d order a sprite. It’s not like people order Soda-Sprite or Pop-Sprite. It only might get confusing for coke. And even then, usually, you can infer it they mean the general idea or, specifically, cocacola.
It’s more like of someone asks if you want a soda, they would instead ask if you want a Coke. You would then ask what kind they have. If you want a specific type at a restaurant, you would just say the kind you wanted.
This is the best explanation of this phenomenon that I think I’ve ever heard.