FRIGIDAIRE and KLEENEX (was ICE BOX)

[Peter A. McGraw]

--On Monday, February 28, 2005 10:34 PM -0500 RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:

> In a message dated 2/28/05 8:40:55 PM, sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM writes:
>

> Neither "Frigidaire" nor "Kleenex" is "the generic." "Refrigerator" is
> clearly "the generic" and has a shorthand form, "fridge" (cf. "televison"
> and  "telly"). "Frigidaire" is a brand name that is found on all manner
> of major  appliances, not just those that keep things cold.
>
> "Kleenex" is a trademark, not a "generic," though people do indeed use it
> as  a shorthand for the generic "(paper) tissue." Surely there are very
> few people  who would not understand a request for a "tissue," or would
> be mystified  about such phrases and sentences as "a box of tissues" or
> "She used a tissue to  dry her eyes." Likewise, few people would be
> confused if asked to purchase  "Kleenex rubber panties" or "Kleenex
> cocktail napkins."

All this is true only if you ignore popular usage.  And why would a
linguist do that?

If I heard someone ask for "a tissue," I would think they were being either
affected or perhaps pathologically conscious of trademark law.  I never
heard of "Kleenex rubber panties" and have a hard time picturing something
that's both rubber and made of kleenex.

Trademarked or not, I remember people using "frigidaire" generically--e.g.,
"Get a coke out of the frigidaire."  I suspect this was in the days when
Frigidaire made only refrigerators, and that the usage faded when the label
was expanded to other products.  Similarly, I clearly remember my
grandfather using "kodak" as a generic for "camera"--at a time when Kodak
products dominated the U.S. market in cameras that ordinary folks could
afford.  This, likewise, faded when the market changed (not unlike what
seems to be happening with "church key").

A bit tangentially, the English of the Pennsylvania Amish apparently once
had "fordcar" as a generic for "car."  My only source, admittedly, is a
play, Papa Is All, which was set in Pa. Amish country and did at least a
convincing job of conveying the speech of that milieu.  There was a line in
the play about somebody having bought a "Chevrolet fordcar."

Peter Mc.

*****************************************************************
Peter A. McGraw       Linfield College        McMinnville, Oregon
******************* pmcgraw at linfield.edu ************************