# Synedoche **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 9, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524 "2018-02-09T16:31:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CaymanQT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@CaymanQT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaymanQT)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524/1 "2018-02-09T16:31:59Z")
that’s the word for using Coke for soft drinks and Xerox for copiers and copies. It is using the word for part of something for the whole. Ex. How do you like my new wheels? I need a kleenex. Pay for it with your plastic. ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524/2 "2018-02-09T17:02:42Z")
The word is actually **synecdoche** , as in the 2008 Charlie Kaufmann movie [Synecdoche, New York](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383028/?ref_=nv_sr_1) (which is where I first came across the word.) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524/3 "2018-02-09T17:13:05Z")
Is there a convenient word for “what column does any of this have to do with?” ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524/4 "2018-02-09T18:11:44Z")
Not the OP, but I assume this line: “Later, by means of the metaphoric process called synecdoche, taking the part for the whole, the Franks applied the name to all the German-speaking tribes, and thus we have Allemagne.” from [Why are there so many names for Germany, AKA Deutschland, Allemagne, etc.?](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/443/why-are-there-so-many-names-for-germany-aka-deutschland-allemagne-etc/) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524/5 "2018-02-09T18:52:32Z")
> [@CaymanQT](#): > > It is using the word for part of something for the whole. I was aware of this meaning of “synecdoche” (as in “Get your ass over here!”). I wasn’t aware that the term “synecdoche” also applied to genericized trademarks (like “Xerox” for copier or “Band-Aid” for bandage), but [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche#Specific_class_name_referring_to_general_set_of_associated_things) seems to agree that it does. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524/6 "2018-02-10T03:13:34Z")
In Randall Garrett’s _Lord Darcy_ stories of sorcery and detection, the magical Law of Synecdoche states _The Part is equivalent to the Whole._ ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524/7 "2018-02-10T05:14:51Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I was aware of this meaning of “synecdoche” (as in “Get your ass over here!”). I wasn’t aware that the term “synecdoche” also applied to genericized trademarks (like “Xerox” for copier or “Band-Aid” for bandage), but [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche#Specific_class_name_referring_to_general_set_of_associated_things) seems to agree that it does. I note that there is no reference quoted for that assertion by Wikipedia. It does not to me seem that saying, “I’m going to Xerox it for you” is a form of synecdoche, because I’m not using part of something to describe the whole. But I’m not an English expert, so I could be wrong. But I think we can demand something more authoritative than an uncited claim in Wikipedia. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2018, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524/8 "2018-02-10T05:25:25Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > I note that there is no reference quoted for that assertion by Wikipedia. It does not to me seem that saying, “I’m going to Xerox it for you” is a form of synecdoche, because I’m not using part of something to describe the whole. But I’m not an English expert, so I could be wrong. But I think we can demand something more authoritative than an uncited claim in Wikipedia. Is this meant in the sense of a ‘Xerox’ being equivalent to a ‘Xerox copy’, or ‘Band-Aid’ being equivalent to ‘Band-Aid bandage’? So the brand names are used as part of the full name of the product? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524/9 "2018-02-10T05:25:37Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I was aware of this meaning of “synecdoche” (as in “Get your ass over here!”). I wasn’t aware that the term “synecdoche” also applied to genericized trademarks (like “Xerox” for copier or “Band-Aid” for bandage), but [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche#Specific_class_name_referring_to_general_set_of_associated_things) seems to agree that it does. > [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > I note that there is no reference quoted for that assertion by Wikipedia. It does not to me seem that saying, “I’m going to Xerox it for you” is a form of synecdoche, because I’m not using part of something to describe the whole. But I’m not an English expert, so I could be wrong. But I think we can demand something more authoritative than an uncited claim in Wikipedia. I share your skepticism that genericized trademarks are synecdoche. The Wikipedia article on generic trademarks notes a nice term that I hadn’t come across before - “genericide”. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524/10 "2018-02-12T19:59:21Z")
I assume the OP is referencing this article: [Is there a term for “trade names that become generic”?](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1464/is-there-a-term-for-trade-names-that-become-generic/) The term “genericide” is mentioned in that article (which dates to January 2000). ---
**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:** [February 12, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524/11 "2018-02-12T22:44:27Z")
I would like to point out one error in Cecil’s column. “Aspirin” is still a registered TM and generic tables are called ASA in Canada and presumably everywhere outside the US. In the US, the name was seized as an alien property during WW II and put into the public domain. There must have been a number of such seizures but the only one I am aware of is the copyright on van der Warden’s algebra book, quite popular (for graduate courses) when I was a student. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synedoche/808524/12 "2018-02-12T22:55:22Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I would like to point out one error in Cecil’s column. “Aspirin” is still a registered TM and generic tables are called ASA in Canada and presumably everywhere outside the US. In the US, the name was seized as an alien property during WW II and put into the public domain. There must have been a number of such seizures but the only one I am aware of is the copyright on van der Warden’s algebra book, quite popular (for graduate courses) when I was a student. It looks like a number of other countries have gone the same way as the U.S. > [@](#): > > Today, aspirin is a generic word in Australia, France, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Jamaica, Colombia, the Philippines, South Africa, Ghana, the United Kingdom and the United States. > **[Aspirin | Trademark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspirin#Trademark)** > > Bayer lost its trademark for Aspirin in the United States and some other countries in actions taken between 1918 and 1921 because it had failed to use the name for its own product correctly and had for years allowed the use of "Aspirin" by other manufacturers without defending the intellectual property rights. Today, aspirin is a generic trademark in many countries. Aspirin, with a capital "A", remains a registered trademark of Bayer in Germany, Canada, Mexico, and in over 80 other co I didn’t realize that it was still a trademark in much of the world.