# Googling, Xeroxing, etc... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887 "2015-07-22T16:44:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ahess05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Ahess05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ahess05)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/1 "2015-07-22T16:44:20Z")
I thought there was a specific word for the name of something being the action it performs. I might be mistaken but isn’t there a word that encompasses this type of word? Such as Xeroxing or Googling or Tivo? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/2 "2015-07-22T16:48:44Z")
[Generic trademark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark), perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![ProfessorComputer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@ProfessorComputer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProfessorComputer)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/3 "2015-07-22T16:52:02Z")
I don’t know if it’s what you were thinking of, but [anthimeria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthimeria) certainly fits the bill. [On a related note.](http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/01/25) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/4 "2015-07-22T17:34:07Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > [Generic trademark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark), perhaps? That’s not what the OP is talking about, but rather the use of a name as a verb. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/5 "2015-07-22T18:35:57Z")
Verbing. As in, “You can verb any noun”. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/6 "2015-07-22T18:36:57Z")
Tautology? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/7 "2015-07-22T18:43:51Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Tautology? Given that a tautology is saying the same thing twice in different words, it’s pretty much impossible for a single word to be a tautology. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/8 "2015-07-22T18:50:54Z")
I was also thinking along the lines of “verbing a noun.” Googling (heh) doesn’t turn up a clear answer except maybe you’re thinking about the term for coining new words in general, “neologism?” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/9 "2015-07-22T21:33:00Z")
The verb produced is considered [denominal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denominal_verb), and the process would seem to be [denominalization](http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-verbing-of-the-english-language/). On a slightly related note, [Google has been used in a further transformation](http://www.theallium.com/engineering/computer-programming-to-be-officially-renamed-googling-stackoverflow/). ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/10 "2015-07-22T22:33:41Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The verb produced is considered [denominal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denominal_verb), and the process would seem to be [denominalization](http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-verbing-of-the-english-language/). Well, that addresses the “verbing” portion of the issue. We still don’t have a word specific to the intersection between denomialization and [genericide](http://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/genericideterm.htm). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/11 "2015-07-22T23:16:26Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Verbing. As in, “You can verb any noun”. I googled (or Googled?) “verbing weirds language,” which is Calvin and Hobbes’ version of this, and it brought me to [conversion (word\_formation)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_%28word_formation%29). A little more broad than the OP wants though, I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/12 "2015-07-24T02:09:51Z")
When any verb in general is turned into the corresponding noun by adding the “-ing” suffix, it’s a gerund, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/13 "2015-07-24T02:23:43Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > When any verb in general is turned into the corresponding noun by adding the “-ing” suffix, it’s a gerund, isn’t it? I ain’t no formal grammarologist, but I think that gerunds are some more precise use of adding “-ing” to a noun. ETA: I could have just looked it up. Sometimes adding “-ing” to a noun [makes it a participle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerund#Distinction_from_other_uses_of_the_-ing_form). ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/14 "2015-07-24T03:27:27Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > When any verb in general is turned into the corresponding noun by adding the “-ing” suffix, it’s a gerund, isn’t it? Interesting question. Certainly it would almost always be a gerund. But it could conceivably be a participle used substantively. Trouble is it is hard to distinguish it. Consider: Swimming is forbidden. Without a doubt “swimming” is a gerund there. But now look at the phrase:swimming lessons. There are three possibilities. It might be a gerund used attributively; it might be a participle used as a simple adjective; it might be a participle used as a substantive, but used attributively. I reject the second on prosodic grounds. Normally in an adjective noun phrase the noun bears the stronger stress (unless you are making a contrast). So it is between the first and third since “swimming” will be stressed. Which one? How can you tell? I just feel that the word is not a gerund that it has a different feel than in the first example. Finally, does it matter? Not in the least. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/googling-xeroxing-etc/725887/15 "2015-07-24T03:48:16Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I googled (or Googled?) Should be “when I searched the web using the Google® brand search engine.”