A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch
From the Ninja Dictionary:
google
verb
°To deliver googlies.
°To move as a ball in a googly.
noun
°An internet search, such as that which is performed on the Google search engine.
°A hit obtained by a search engine.
I was originally going to write an article about how I don’t use Google for very many searches. There are several specialized search engines that usually do a much better job. I use the Bing search engine for most of my general searches. It does an adequate job and gives me enough Rewards Points to pay for my monthly HULU service.
While researching how the brand name “Google” became a common word, I found that it wasn’t the first product that became so well known. I had always known of a few others like Kleenex, Xerox, Band‑Aid, and more. These are all brand names that haven’t become generic. Here are a few others. I didn’t know about them. Do you?
• Popsicle – On a hot day, almost everyone loves frozen ice‑pop or freezer‑pop. You aren’t eating a Popsicle unless it is made by Unilever.
• Jet‑Ski – I’ve never had a ride on a personal water craft. That’s probably why I didn’t know that to be called a Jet‑Ski, it has to be manufactured by Kawasaki.
• Crock‑Pot – I took a break from writing this article and went to the kitchen. There I found out that we really had a slow food cooker instead of the one made by Sunbeam. I also learned that the word is correctly spelled with a hyphen.
• Dumpster – That trash bin has to be made by the Dempster‑Brothers to be called a dumpster. The name is also a portmanteau, the blending of the words “dump” and the name “Dempster.
• Zipper – I always knew that a lighter had to made by Zippo to be called by that name. I didn’t know that the fastener you “zip” has to be the B. F. Goodrich kind to be called a Zipper.
• Frisbee = WHAM‑O was sued in 2010. The terms Frisbee, Hula Hoop and Slip’n Slide are still not generic.
• Seeing Eye Dog – If the animal wasn’t trained by Seeing Eye of Morristown, NJ, it is just a plain old guide dog.
• Super Heroes – I guess you can be only a hero if you don’t belong to DC Comics or Marvel Comics. They jointly own the trademark.
• Velcro – Does anyone say “hook and loop” fasteners?
• TASER – If the police come after you, make sure that device in their hand was manufactured by the TASER International Company. If not, you’ll have to yell, “I surrender! Don’t hit me with that electroshock weapon!”
• Formica – If it isn’t made by the Diller Corporation, it is just a decorative laminate.
One last trademark. I always knew that a Stetson was made by the John B. Stetson Company and wasn’t a generic name for a cowboy hat. Like many other companies, their lawyers are quick to let you know when you infringe their trademark. To be completely honest, I just wanted a chance to include this link to an article by a Washington Post journalist.
I hope that I can be forgiven for not writing about technical stuff this month. Sometimes it is nice to just lean back in my La‑Z‑Boy (oops: I meant reclining chair) and turn on my Lava Lamp (oops: I meant liquid motion lamp) and reflect on other things.
Thanks for reading.