FRIGIDAIRE and KLEENEX (was ICE BOX)

[Michael Adams]

The primacy of what consumers KNOW is also technical and legal, too, isn't it, Ron?  That is, it's one thing that matters to the courts in determining whether trademark terms have become generic, yes?

Some of this ground is covered in an excellent article by Ron and Jennifer Westerhaus, "Linguistic change in words one owns:  How trademarks become 'generic,'" in _Studies in the History of the English Language II:  Unfolding Conversations_, edited by Anne Curzan and Kimberly Emmons (Mouton de Gruyter, 2004).  One might accuse me of several conflicts of interest in mentioning it, I suppose, since Anne is my collaborator, Ron is my colleague and friend, and Jennifer is my fiancee, but Jenny and Ron would be the first to point out that I agree entirely with Larry.  (Usually, they just say that I'm wrong, but now maybe they'll say something like, "Well, now you're just agreeing with Larry," instead.)

Michael