Outdated/incorrect terms

[GaryK]

Slightly off-topic, but still of interest, I hope:

 

Xerox, the brand-name for a type of photocopier.

Band-Aid, the brand-name for a type of bandage.

Jell-O, the brand-name for a gelatin dessert.

 

All three company's brand-names are frequently used to generically describe similar products. All three companies are in a protracted struggle to maintain their legal marks. Xerox seems to be fighting a losing battle because several prominent dictionaries list xerox as a verb for making a photocopy of something and Xerox has been unable to put a stop to it.

[rknapp]

What about "buggy" for a shopping cart?

This may come as a surprise, but shopping carts here are referred to as "shopping carts", or simply "carts"

 

Incidentally, I think the "trunk" (for the back storage compartment of a car=automobile) in the US comes from the old practice of strapping a steamer trunk to the back of the old model A Fords and similar vehicles. Once that became common enough that the newer models were made with one integrated into the design, the name still stuck.

I always used to get into arguments with an English friend of mine. It was always about terms for the parts of a car. Hood versus bonnet, top versus hood, trunk versus boot, windshield versus windscreen, etc. Then there is their terminology for car classes, such as saloon instead of sedan.

 

The most annoying difference I've noticed since moving to England is the different terms for what Americans call 'pants' and the Brits call trousers. I'm in the habit of saying it in the American fashion, which can be awkward since pants here is what Americans would call panties or underwear.

 

Menzo

I would go bat-shit insane if I ever visited England and needed to shop for anything.

[clumber]

One of the things that'd probably trip me up in america is if I needed to remove some penciled markings from a piece of paper. Apparently a 'rubber' is used for something entirely different there .

[AFriendlyFace]

Xerox seems to be fighting a losing battle because several prominent dictionaries list xerox as a verb for making a photocopy of something and Xerox has been unable to put a stop to it.

But do they really want to win this battle? I mean surely the free publicity is rather nice, and usually companies go out of their way to 'brand' themselves.

 

Then there is their terminology for car classes, such as saloon instead of sedan.

Well, given the choice I'd rather be in a saloon.

 

One of the things that'd probably trip me up in america is if I needed to remove some penciled markings from a piece of paper. Apparently a 'rubber' is used for something entirely different there .

 

Am I right in also assuming that you guys don't use the term "restroom" to reference the room where one goes to the toilet?

 

I've heard you guys use the terms: W.C., loo, bog, washroom, or simply 'ladies' or 'gents', but not the very prevalent American version: restroom.

 

However, I was once watching a television show in which one of the characters suggested to the other that he accompany him into the 'restroom'. It gave me pause before I determined this was something akin to a lounge, and was quite literally a 'room of rest'. That phrase I had never heard before in that way. Have you (or any other Brits) heard it used in this way? I was assuming it must be relatively uncommon.

 

-Kevin

[GaryK]

But do they really want to win this battle? I mean surely the free publicity is rather nice, and usually companies go out of their way to 'brand' themselves.

Yes, they want and need to win this battle. If they lose it they lose the right to claim a trademark, and probably all their legal marks, on Xerox Brand copying machines. As I understand it, if that happens then Company B could release a product called Xeroxer, for example, and there would be nothing Xerox Corp. could do about it.

[AFriendlyFace]

Ahh, I didn't realize they would simultaneously lose trademark rights if it became a 'word' in the technical sense.

Edited June 5, 2008 by AFriendlyFace

[GaryK]

Ahh, I didn't realize they would simultaneously lose trademark rights if it became a 'word' in the technical sense.

I didn't explain myself well enough. What they lose is the right to claim a trademark on the term itself. Let me cite a couple of examples that should make things a bit more clear.

 

Band-Aid brand adhesive. They didn't do a good enough job of protecting their legal marks so now, even though Band-Aid brand adhesive is still a trademarked term, band-aid is a generic term for adhesive bandages and a temporary or makeshift solution to a problem.

 

Same thing happened to SPAM. Even though SPAM is still trademarked, spam is not.

 

Both the above companies have given up any attempt to prevent use of the more generic spelling. Xerox is still actively fighting it.

[AFriendlyFace]

Hmm, well SPAM is just gross (I held these views long before my vegetarianism days), but it seems to me that Band-Aid would benefit from having the word so prevalent in everyday vernacular (well theoretically I suppose SPAM would too over it's competitors, its just that...YUCK).

 

Anyway I definitely see your point, and I'm sure it's borne out by statistics and marketing principles, but it's counter-intuitive to what I would have assumed.

[wildone]

I'm not really sure whether we are talking about the same things or not.

 

I think what we call jam is your preserve. some would use that name here as well. not sure what your jam is then. jelly i think we are talking about the same stuff. Gelatin. well. actually maybe we aren't talking about the same jelly. Gelatin does from that description sound like our jelly, and gelatin is an ingredient from animals in our jelly (why my veggie housemate won't eat the stuff - or alot of other sweets). so maybe your jelly and jam are just different varieties/recipes for preserve, but more artifical (the people who use the name presere here wouldnt use it for all the jars labelled jams, just the ones obviously with lots of fruit and preferably homemade). and its preserve because by adding lots and lots of sugar thats how they would 'keep' (preserve) fruit to stop it from going off (if you didnt know ).

 

I bet I'll only truely know if I ever visit the states someday,

Celia

Celia

 

The best way I can think to describe the difference is:

 

Jam is made with crushed up fruit.

Jelly is made from fruit juice

Both are preserves, but that is usually reserved for the less crushed fruit like marmalades.

 

Jello is a brand name for both flavoured gelatin, as well as pudding.

 

But do they really want to win this battle? I mean surely the free publicity is rather nice, and usually companies go out of their way to 'brand' themselves.

 

 

Well, given the choice I'd rather be in a saloon.

 

 

 

Am I right in also assuming that you guys don't use the term "restroom" to reference the room where one goes to the toilet?

 

I've heard you guys use the terms: W.C., loo, bog, washroom, or simply 'ladies' or 'gents', but not the very prevalent American version: restroom.

 

However, I was once watching a television show in which one of the characters suggested to the other that he accompany him into the 'restroom'. It gave me pause before I determined this was something akin to a lounge, and was quite literally a 'room of rest'. That phrase I had never heard before in that way. Have you (or any other Brits) heard it used in this way? I was assuming it must be relatively uncommon.

 

-Kevin

 

Up here we usually just call it the washroom, which has got me some strange stares when asking for the washroom when visiting the states. A lot of people though just ask "Where's the toilets?" up here. Crude, eh?

 

Back when we got cable, most TV's need a converter box in order to get over 13 channels, so some old people still call the remote control "the converter"

 

My question is do you have Kraft Dinner in the states, or KD for short? It is a staple in the canadian diet and is another Kraft product that is maccaroni and cheese.

 

Steve

[AFriendlyFace]

Up here we usually just call it the washroom, which has got me some strange stares when asking for the washroom when visiting the states. A lot of people though just ask "Where's the toilets?" up here. Crude, eh?

This reminds me of an interesting observation a friend of mine once made. People will often point at their wrists when asking the time, but seldom point at their crotches when inquiring about the restroom.

 

My question is do you have Kraft Dinner in the states, or KD for short? It is a staple in the canadian diet and is another Kraft product that is maccaroni and cheese.

We definitely have Kraft products, I'm not sure if there are "Kraft Dinners" per se.

 

 

Another comment, this is just my own quirky, forgetful weirdness though and not anything I'm assuming anyone else does, but I have a tough time correctly differentiating between the fast food chain "Wendy's" and the grocery store chain "Winn-Dixie". I mean I know the difference if I consciously think about it, but in casual conversation I'm apt to use the two completely interchangeably. Fortunately neither one comes up particularly often, but when one does it's anyone's guess which name I'll use.

[Boy In Doubt]

Ooh, I've got one.

 

Brillo Pads - That thing used for doing the dishes and people call it by it's brand name.

 

Also, do you guys remember the early 2000s when Google was still unknown by many and some people would think of it as a dirty word? Hehe. "He Googled him" "He Googled her", etc.

[Daisy]

Am I right in also assuming that you guys don't use the term "restroom" to reference the room where one goes to the toilet?

 

I've heard you guys use the terms: W.C., loo, bog, washroom, or simply 'ladies' or 'gents', but not the very prevalent American version: restroom.

 

However, I was once watching a television show in which one of the characters suggested to the other that he accompany him into the 'restroom'. It gave me pause before I determined this was something akin to a lounge, and was quite literally a 'room of rest'. That phrase I had never heard before in that way. Have you (or any other Brits) heard it used in this way? I was assuming it must be relatively uncommon.

 

Like someone else said about Canada, we generally just say 'where's the toilet?' it depends on where you come from if you prefer using the word loo (I sometimes do, but thats from my gran). or we just say 'ladies'. or 'mens'. restroom just sounds odd for what it is. but a 'bathroom' we do have, just they are in your houses and generally have a bath (or showerr) in them too . W.C is how they may be marked on maps. and bog is more a school term.

 

I've never heard of the 'lounge' being called the 'restroom', but I call them 'sitting rooms' which is again one of the more obvious names

 

Celia

Edited June 5, 2008 by Smarties

[clumber]

Well, if you said "restroom" in Britain, we'd know what you meant... but we'd also assume that you had americanitus and so you would have to prove that you had a brain before being allowed back into any conversations

 

 

As for the thing you saw where the word "restroom" turned out to mean the living room, I'm guessing that was just something being old-fashioned.

[rec]

lol...I don't know if this would count or not, but when my stepmom talks about soda, she calls it a diet. I know she means diet soda, but I think it's kinda weird how she leaves the name of the soda off (She drinks diet sprite). She'll be all, "Nick, can you grab me a diet from the fridge?" Maybe it's a southern thing or something.

 

Of course, 'fridge' is short for Frigidaire.

[greenmann]

Um, I always thought "fridge" was short for "refrigerater"?

 

And if we are going to get into hand signals... when I was in Panama in the Peace Corps, it took me a while to get used to how people show measurements. You know, when you say "it was THIS long" and use the appropriate hand gesture to show it? Well, in the US, we usually put our hands out, palms facing each other, and approximate how long it is by the space between our hands. Well, in Panama, they hold one hand straight out, pointer finger pointing and measure back along the wrist to forearm with the other hand, usually marking it off with the pointer finger. The first time someone did it to me it took me a bit to figure out what he meant, but of course it was still perfectly clear. I dunno what they thought of my hand gesture for the same thing Course, since all the guys in my village used a machete, sometimes they would measure it on the machete too, especially if it was something vulgar, lol. But I would probably get into trouble if I tried to explain that.

[Bandage]

Um, I always thought "fridge" was short for "refrigerater"?

Isn't it refrigerator? :wacko:

 

And if we are going to get into hand signals... when I was in Panama in the Peace Corps, it took me a while to get used to how people show measurements. You know, when you say "it was THIS long" and use the appropriate hand gesture to show it? Well, in the US, we usually put our hands out, palms facing each other, and approximate how long it is by the space between our hands. Well, in Panama, they hold one hand straight out, pointer finger pointing and measure back along the wrist to forearm with the other hand, usually marking it off with the pointer finger. The first time someone did it to me it took me a bit to figure out what he meant, but of course it was still perfectly clear. I dunno what they thought of my hand gesture for the same thing Course, since all the guys in my village used a machete, sometimes they would measure it on the machete too, especially if it was something vulgar, lol. But I would probably get into trouble if I tried to explain that.

 

LOL!

I think I know what you were measuring, lol! You naughty boy you

[clumber]

Something vulgar?

 

mmm...was it some sort of fried food that only poor people eat? Real people who can afford better don't eat that sort of stuff, on account of it being so vulgar.

 

 

Martin

 

 

 

(See, I'm an innocent little angel. I jumped to the conclusion that the ulgar iten was some sort of foodstuff, and not a penis at all).

[greenmann]

You must be thinking of Bulgar, clumber, and no, not in Panama. They mostly ate rice, corn, manioc and sweet potatos for starch. Though some here might have a taste for what they were measuring with their yarda, which is what they called the longer machetes.

 

I did find it interesting also that in Spanish (or at least in Panama), just as the knife itself has rather obvious phalic references, the scabbard does as well. Interestingly, the colloquial term for the scabbard is vaina, which was literally translated to me as "pea pod". When I asked if they were familiar with the American saying "like two peas in a pod", I got some very startled, and very uncomfortable laughter out of the three men I asked the question to .