# How many genericized trademarks do you currently use (read the OP) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 9, 2026, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692 "2026-10-09T10:24:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/41 "2026-10-11T07:57:56Z")
Huh. “Scotch” in French is unambiguously sticky tape, unless you are talking about whisky. Though, I guess you could call it “scratch”… are you sure the Israelis are saying “Scotch” and not “Scratch”? 3M makes Dual Lock which is strictly better, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/42 "2026-10-11T08:11:38Z")
Nope. Scotch tape is called “Cellotape”, masking tape is called “Maskingtape”, electrical tape is called “Isolierband” and duct tape is called _niyar devek chabala,_ or “Demolition Tape”. ---
**Author:** ![Jegpeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jegpeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jegpeg)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/43 "2026-10-11T08:14:56Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > I’ve never called a soda a **Coke** Is coke used generically for all sodas? I was assuming it was used as a term for cola. I never drink the stuff so don’t really use either term. I work in a coffee shop but we serve coke so I don’t need to worry is a customer asks for a coke whether they mean any cola or whether I need to ask if Pepsi or whatever is OK. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/44 "2026-10-11T08:26:42Z")
> [@Jegpeg](#): > > I was assuming it was used as a term for cola. Generic “coke” just referred to cola flavored drinks in my experience. When I was a kid you might get a Pepsi or RC if you asked for a coke. The SNL “No Coke! Pepsi!” line just made the Belushi guy sound crazier. Somewhere in the 1980s the distinction became a lot more important to people. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/45 "2026-10-11T09:35:11Z")
Supposedly in the South people call all sodas “coke”. But this was not true in my experience for Atlanta in the 1990s. Atlanta is the home of Coca Cola (global HQ is in downtown) but it is also full of people who weren’t born in the South or whose parents weren’t born in the South. We visited a mansion and gardens on the Alabama Gulf Coast in 2019. The original owners got rich as Coca-Cola bottlers. The tour guide told us that in the South people called all sodas Coke, but the visitors from all over the South said this was not true where they lived (Memphis, New Orleans, North Carolina, etc) and were rather annoyed at the guide repeating this trope. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/46 "2026-10-11T13:06:31Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I had always heard that the Aspirin TM was revoked (along with a lot of other things) during WWII. Per wiki, the US trademark for Aspirin was revoked in 1921. In response to the practical genericization of US usage of the word. So whatever other anti-German (or anti-Japanese) things the Feds did in the lead-up to WWII or during the war, that wasn’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/47 "2026-10-11T13:14:02Z")
> [@Jegpeg](#): > > Is coke used generically for all sodas? Allegedly. There is a trope that in the US south, some people call all sodas Cokes. I’m originally from Texas and half of my family is from the south but I’ve never known anyone who did that. On the other hand, I was once asked by a waitress in rural Virginia “what kind of Coke?” I assumed she didn’t mean Diet or regular, so I responded Coca Cola. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/48 "2026-10-11T15:04:26Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > There is a trope that in the US south, some people call all sodas Cokes. I’m originally from Texas and half of my family is from the south but I’ve never known anyone who did that I grew up in Texas, near Austin, and the “what kind of coke?” was common. My parents grew up in Ohio, where “pop” was the generic term, and using it in Texas was a flashing neon sign someone was a yankee. It went further than ordering drinks, a “coke machine” was any beverage vending machine. There were also lots of people who said soda or maybe soda pop, but to my kid ears that always seemed old fashioned. So in my personal experience, worth the anecdote it is written on, “coke” as a generic existed, and still exists, but in many cases people skip the whole “what kind of coke” and go straight to ordering a Dr. Pepper, Sprite, or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/49 "2026-10-11T15:53:19Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > The main book used in teaching abstract algebra until the late 20th c. had its copyright revoked during the war. The author, although Dutch, moved to Germany and was an enthusiastic Nazi. What book was that? Now I’m curious if it was used in one of my classes. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/50 "2026-10-11T16:16:33Z")
I get the impression that the "Every carbonated beverage is a ‘coke’ " thing was nigh universal in the 50s & 60s in much of the southeast and south-mid regions. Back before widespread air conditioning and hardly anyone moved there from elsewhere. It’s been heavily diluted since, and is probably now a much more small town or rural thing than a big city thing. Because the dilution is almost entirely confined to major & minor cities and their burbs. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/51 "2026-10-11T21:26:45Z")
Today my husband and I were talking about the non stick rice cooker pot, and he called it Teflon. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/52 "2026-10-11T22:08:11Z")
Australia: Thermos (an insulated drink container, to keep liquids hot or cold). Esky (a portable ‘ice-box’ for picnics, camping etc). And Panadol for any paracetamol based pain-killer. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/53 "2026-10-11T22:56:14Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Thermos (an insulated drink container, to keep liquids hot or cold). The same in Germany. I didn’t even know that it was a trademark. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/54 "2026-10-11T23:29:59Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Esky (a portable ‘ice-box’ for picnics, camping etc). Doona is also a trademark name used generically in Australia. That’s for duvets (aka comforters). ---
**Author:** ![Quondam\_Mechanic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quondam_mechanic/32/3404_2.png) [@Quondam\_Mechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quondam_Mechanic)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/55 "2026-10-12T00:21:56Z")
IIRC, Canadians refer to certain winter garb as "skidoo suits’’ – from the Ski-Doo snowmobile. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/56 "2026-10-12T00:23:29Z")
I thought of another one. I say “jet ski” for any personal watercraft ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/57 "2026-10-12T01:44:13Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@kambuckta](#): > > > > Thermos (an insulated drink container, to keep liquids hot or cold). > > The same in Germany And the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/58 "2026-10-12T13:12:34Z")
Speaking of insulated things, I use Styrofoam almost exclusively vs closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam. So there’s another one. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/59 "2026-10-12T13:19:03Z")
I actually make an effort to refer to PMMA as such rather than Plexiglass, Perspex, or other specific brands. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692/60 "2026-10-12T15:11:23Z")
Just thought of another one, though it’s a device that has been obsolete for decades: I’ve always have and still call any portable cassette player a Walkman, though that’s the trademark by Sony who invented it. I don’t remember if Discman for a portable CD player has ever been trademarked, but I use that, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-genericized-trademarks-do-you-currently-use-read-the-op/1033692.md?page=4)