4.0413 Trademark Neologisms (2/51)
Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Thu, 23 Aug 90 20:59:57 EDT
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 4, No. 0413. Thursday, 23 Aug 1990.
(1) Date: Thu, 23 Aug 90 13:24:06 BST (9 lines)
From: Donald Spaeth 041 339-8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK>
Subject: 4.0404 Computers and hoovers
(2) Date: Wednesday, 22 August 1990 1634-EST (42 lines)
From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS
Subject: Trademark Neologisms
(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 90 13:24:06 BST
From: Donald Spaeth 041 339-8855 x6336 <GKHA13@CMS.GLASGOW.AC.UK>
Subject: 4.0404 Computers and hoovers
Jumping in quickly as a trans-Atlantic translator...
the British use the make Hoover as a synonym for vacuum cleaner.
Don Spaeth
University of Glasgow
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------54----
Date: Wednesday, 22 August 1990 1634-EST
From: KRAFT@PENNDRLS
Subject: Trademark Neologisms
Ian Lambert's not-so-obvious reference to the "hoover" as a generic
British (English?) term for what people I know in the USA would call a
vacuum cleaner (what is Canadian usage?) raises that interesting
question of what "trademark" type words, and for what reasons, have
become generic terms. Words are such fun! Others that occur to me in
USA American English (Northeastern Seaboard to Chicago, at least) are
"jello" for various geletin dessert and salad concoctions (but not for
jelly as a bread spread), "kleenex" for facial tissues in general, and
maybe "fridge" if it refers to the brand Frigidaire rather than simply
to refrigerator and "gat" if Gattling was primarily a trademark rather
than mainly a reference to the inventor of a new tecnological advance --
the ability to fire multiple shots by means of a revolving barrel,
apparently on hand guns (thus "gat") as well as on the larger
proto-machine guns.
As an after thought, I have checked the available "websters" in the
office, both of which happen to be real Webster's dictionaries. The one
from 1951 has none of these trademark words, but the one from 1986 has
all my examples (except "webster" with the meaning dictionary). Jello
and Kleenex are both capitalized and attributed to extensions of
trademarks. Not so "fridge, also frig...(1926) REFRIGERATOR"; but there
is a separate entry "Frigidaire...trademark -- used for a mechanical
refrigerator." There is no entry for "Hoover" in these dictionaries.
If I had the electronic OED I would search for "trademark" and see what
else is offered. I bet there are lots of these things, especially the
more technical the subject matter is, although the distinction between
an inventor/producer whose name gets attached to something (by virtue of
obtaining a patent?) and a trademarked something that lends its name to
an entire class may be very slim (e.g. Bunsen burner, British
"mackintosh" raincoat -- is "London fog" a trademark?). I see that
"lifesaver" for a mini-donut shaped mint ("polo" in other climes?) has
not made it into these dictionaries, nor "bic" for a ballpoint pen (not
for a lighter?). How about "levi's" for blue denim jeans (yup, it's in
the book).
Break time is up. Gotta go back to work. Have fun.
Bob Kraft