FRIGIDAIRE and KLEENEX (was ICE BOX)

[Baker, John]

        These things ebb and flow.  A few years ago, I was surprised when people started correcting my references to "Xerox machine" (which I then considered generic, in ordinary speech, for "copier") with "No, it's an IBM [or other specific make] machine."  Now "copier" has replaced "Xerox machine" in my own vocabulary.

        A Kleenex, to me, can be of any brand.  My wife, however, routinely asks for a "tissue," even though Kleenex brand tissues are what we use.

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
Of Laurence Horn
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 3:44 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: FRIGIDAIRE and KLEENEX (was ICE BOX)


(And to respond to the question, there are at least some google hits for
"Canon xerox machines", "Scotties kleenex", "Curad band-aids", and
the like, while in other cases--"kitty litter", "crock pot",
"spackle"--any knowledge of the brand name origin of the generic has
essentially disappeared from the speech community.)

larry