# Trademark product names that became VERBS **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2008, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157 "2008-05-13T12:51:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/1 "2008-05-13T12:51:17Z")
Many a trademark word has slipped into the language as a noun–asprin and bandaid being two of the most obvious. However, when telling someone to “google it,” I wondered how many became verbs? Xerox did, but few people xerox anymore. Occasionally I hear someone say “scotchtape it.” Those are the only three I can think of. Are there any others? ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/2 "2008-05-13T12:58:15Z")
Not quite as common as what you’re looking for but mechanical types often “loctite” threads on screws, bolts, etc. Probably there are more examples of this from the workplace than from home. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/3 "2008-05-13T13:04:50Z")
Would “phoning” someone - a truncated form of “telephone” - count? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/4 "2008-05-13T13:08:38Z")
Using a vacuum cleaner has become known as ‘hoovering’ - I’ve even heard kids back-form ‘hoover’, interpreting it as ‘a machine that _hooves_ - a hoov_ **er** _’, and say things like “can we hoove up these crumbs?” ---
**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:** [May 13, 2008, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/5 "2008-05-13T13:09:07Z")
Photoshop. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/6 "2008-05-13T13:27:09Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] Photoshop. [/QUOTE] I’ve also been asked by co-workers to “PDF” something. That is, convert a document to PDF format. Bugs the hell out of me, but I keep my mouth shut. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/7 "2008-05-13T13:47:39Z")
Rollerblading. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/8 "2008-05-13T13:50:04Z")
[QUOTE=Canadjun] Rollerblading. [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t that be a gerund? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/9 "2008-05-13T13:50:52Z")
To jet-ski, to TiVo, to wite-out. By back-formation: to osterize. ---
**Author:** ![wasson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4da419/32.png) [@wasson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wasson)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/10 "2008-05-13T13:56:21Z")
Swiffer. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/11 "2008-05-13T14:09:35Z")
I was going to say “Google” for “use an internet search engine”, but since nobody seems to use anything else now… ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/12 "2008-05-13T14:28:54Z")
FedEx. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/13 "2008-05-13T16:28:29Z")
I’ve used Saran Wrap as a verb. “Are you going to saran wrap the leftovers?” ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/14 "2008-05-13T16:37:33Z")
As much as the company tries to keep the trademark from becoming a verb, I do Xerox things. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/15 "2008-05-13T16:41:06Z")
[QUOTE=Broomstick] Would “phoning” someone - a truncated form of “telephone” - count? [/QUOTE] Was telephone ever a trademark? I don’t think it was. As for my contribution: I’ve seen Western Union used as a verb to send money via Western Union, e.g. “I will Western Union you $200.” ETA: And I’m amazed that nobody has mentioned _spam_, although that verb has nothing to do with the product. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/16 "2008-05-13T16:41:17Z")
To windsurf To hoover ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/17 "2008-05-13T16:46:53Z")
Are you going to _bubble wrap_ that crystal before sending it? ---
**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:** [May 13, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/18 "2008-05-13T16:57:37Z")
You look half asleep. Did you get Botoxed? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/19 "2008-05-13T17:05:02Z")
Lawyers hate it when that happens (Google’s lawyers [complained](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3006486.stm) when an episode of ER used “to google” as a verb), as it weakens the companies rights to the brand. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157/20 "2008-05-13T17:06:14Z")
To sellotape. To myspace. To msn. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trademark-product-names-that-became-verbs/449157.md?page=2)