The meaning of GENERIC (was FRIGIDAIRE and KLEENEX)

[James C Stalker]

RonButters at AOL.COM writes:

I
> suggest, however, that most people who use "generic" in the Michael-Larry way have
> in fact been from the outset strongly influenced by the legal sense of the
> term--that is, they are in realilty attempting to use it in a quasi-legal fashion
> without understanding the sociolegal implications of their usage. And this
> leads to all sorts of confusion.
>

I like this.  Southerners, who use Coke generically,(note those
non-restrictive clause commas) are aware of the legal sense of the term and
are rejecting it.  Does this correlate with the "save your Dixie cups; the
South will rise again: syndrome?

Jim


James C. Stalker
Department of English
Michigan State University