# Brand Names as Verbs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 19, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845 "2006-12-19T23:13:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/21 "2006-12-20T15:00:53Z")
[QUOTE=TokyoPlayer] As what happened with trampoline. [/QUOTE] And linoleum. Aspirin was also a brand name, but the Bayer company was forced to give it up as part of the peace settlement following World War I, so that case is a little different. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/22 "2006-12-20T15:01:05Z")
[QUOTE=Nava] So that specific example doesn’t look particularly appropiate. [/QUOTE] Appropriate for what? Google is subject to the same risk of genericide. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/23 "2006-12-20T15:17:42Z")
I have this dim memory of watching the Iran-Contra hearings and seeing some Congressman or other saying that he’d received a letter from the Xerox Corporation asking him not to use “xerox” to refer to non-Xerox photocopying and apologizing for doing it… [QUOTE=Nava] Ehm, I don’t know of anybody who googles using anything but google. [/QUOTE] On the TV show “Veronica Mars” the lead character has said “Google” a number of times both as a noun and a verb, including saying she’s going to google someone or something, but when they show her search results she’s using a (I assume) fictitious site called something like “Zowie.” > [@Chance the Gardener](#): > > Aspirin was also a brand name, but the Bayer company was forced to give it up as part of the peace settlement following World War I, so that case is a little different. I would love to hear more about this. ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/24 "2006-12-20T15:34:31Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] I would love to hear more about this. [/QUOTE] Okay. [Here’s a link I found about the history of aspirin.](http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blaspirin.htm) Apparently Bayer lost rights to the name through the Treaty of Versailles—a headache I’m sure they didn’t need! [QUOTE=history of aspirin] Aspirin was first sold as a powder. In 1915, the first Aspirin tablets were made. Interestingly, Aspirin ® and Heroin ® were once trademarks belonging to Bayer. After Germany lost World War I, Bayer was forced to give up both trademarks as part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. [/QUOTE] I didn’t know that Heroin® was also a trademark. I guess Bayer doesn’t care to remind people of _that!_ ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/25 "2006-12-20T18:37:37Z")
A while back, an ad campaign encouraged verbing their trademark. We were told to Simonize® our cars. If you have a DVR of another brand, you might still “Tivo®” a show while you’re shopping. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/26 "2006-12-20T18:39:55Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Simonize® … “Tivo®” [/QUOTE] Just FYI, only the owner of a trademark is required to use the “registered” or “trademark” bug. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/27 "2006-12-20T18:45:08Z")
[QUOTE=According to Pliny] Duh. [/QUOTE] That seems harsh. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/28 "2006-12-20T18:46:52Z")
[QUOTE=rocksolid] Not being familiar with bloodless bullfighting i have to ask, what’s the velcro connection? [/QUOTE] You cover the inner walls of the ring with the hook side of the Hook-and-Loop product and the sport is to get the bull to stick. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/29 "2006-12-20T19:05:43Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] From a business perspective, I’ve never quite understood why they’d _want_ to prevent their name from becoming a household word. [/QUOTE] Plus if you call using a copy machine “Xeroxing,” and a Walmart-brand copy machine eats your cat, Xerox wouldn’t want their name anywhere near the crappy competitor’s product. I agree about “googling.” Seems like 99% of the time, the user will indeed be using [google.com](http://google.com) to google something. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/30 "2006-12-20T19:12:28Z")
[QUOTE=Troy McClure SF] I agree about “googling.” Seems like 99% of the time, the user will indeed be using [google.com](http://google.com) to google something. [/QUOTE] And before Google’s rise to dominance, none of the earlier search engines had the market share, nor the catchy name, to pull off a similar feat. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/31 "2006-12-20T19:13:03Z")
Adobe has a snippy [page of guidelines](http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:n3AMXmm7sREJ:www.adobe.com/misc/pdfs/TM_GuideforThirdPartiesFinalPrint.pdf) for properly using their trademarks which admonishes 3rd parties to never use “Photoshop” as a verb. (Link is an HTML version of a PDF) > [@](#): > > Never vary the spelling, add or delete hyphens (even for normal hyphenation atthe end of a line of text), make one word two,or use a possessive or plural form of the trademark. Adobe trademarks must always be used as adjectives followed bya generic term (such as “software”), and never as nouns or verbs. For examples of appropriate generic terms that may be used with Adobe trademarks, see the list from the company’s online “General Trademark Guidelines”at [http://www.adobe.com/misc/agreement.html](http://www.adobe.com/misc/agreement.html). > > For example: > CORRECT: The image was modified using Adobe® Photoshop® software. > INCORRECT: The image was Photoshopped. I don’t know what, if anything, they could do if you chose to ignore their guidelines. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/32 "2006-12-20T19:14:31Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] And before Google’s rise to dominance, none of the earlier search engines had the market share, nor the catchy name, to pull off a similar feat. [/QUOTE] I don’t know about that – It seems to me that before Google took off, Yahoo was similarly dominant in the search engine “market.” Anyway, the basic irony is that the more successful a company is, the more it risks losing its trademark to generic meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/33 "2006-12-20T19:20:47Z")
[QUOTE=Jophiel] I don’t know what, if anything, they could do if you chose to ignore their guidelines. [/QUOTE] Exactly nothing. They might complain, but you can safely ignore them. The basic concept of trademark law is consumer protection and if consumers decide that a word is more useful as a generic term, then there’s nothing a trademark owner can do to stop them. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/34 "2006-12-20T19:47:25Z")
I keep misreading this title as “_ **Band** _ Names as Verbs”, and I gotta admit that “Verbing the Noun” would make a good band name. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/35 "2006-12-20T20:20:38Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] I don’t know about that – It seems to me that before Google took off, Yahoo was similarly dominant in the search engine “market.” [/QUOTE] OK, now that I think back, you’re probably right. However, I still maintain the other half of my assertion (lack of sufficiently catchy name); thank goodness we don’t refer to “yahooing” a desired name or topic. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/36 "2006-12-20T22:25:47Z")
In case nobody noticed, Kleenex can be used as a verb. “The window was fogging up so I Kleenexed it.” “My nose is running, so I’m going to Kleenex it.” “Bob is busy Kleenexing the mess he made when he spilled his Coke.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/37 "2006-12-20T22:29:38Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] I could be wrong, but I don’t believe this for one minute. The station is likely to pass the letter around and laugh at it and then throw it in the garbage. Yes, it’s a letter from a lawyer, but it alleges absolutely nothing that can result in liability for the station. [/QUOTE] Well, it’s been 20-25 years since I’ve been directly involved; maybe stations are more casual about this now. But in those days, stations did react like that. Perhaps the most effective part of the letter from Xerox was the line at the bottom saying “cc: \”. Some of those local distributors were advertisers on the station, often with Xerox paying part of the advertising costs. The implied threat that they might be annoyed enough to pull their ads, or pressured by Xerox to do so, was enough to get station management to respond. An apology letter and a memo to staff cost almost nothing if it kept an advertiser happy. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/38 "2006-12-21T07:25:56Z")
[QUOTE=Chance the Gardener] I didn’t know that Heroin® was also a trademark. [/QUOTE] Then take a gander at [this page](http://www.heroin.org/sample/) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2006, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845/39 "2006-12-21T08:34:02Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Well, there was the dude on the SDMB a few years ago that couldn’t stop talking about Hoovering womens’ nipples in the interests of pleasuring them. [/QUOTE] Nature abhors a vacuum. Nature vaccums a whore’s abs? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-as-verbs/384845.md?page=1)