Brand names and trademarks that are often used as generic terms

[AY1975]

"HP Sauce" being used to describe any old brown sauce.

Or "Daddies Sauce"!

 

[D6130]

A "Henry" to describe a small, rotund "Hoover" on wheels.

A "Flymo" to describe any brand of hovering lawnmower.

 

[43096]

Public address systems are sometimes referred to as Tannoys, but in actuality Tannoy is a manufacturer of PA systems as well as loudspeakers.

As referred to by Alan Partridge in the classic sketch:

 

[32475]

Airbnb must be a recent contender in which any holiday rental flat or cottage is described as such even though other rental agencies are available

 

[nw1]

Sellotape for any kind of clear, polypropylene-based tape with a pressure sensitive adhesive. Not just specific varieties now manufactured by Henkel AG & Co.

Formerly owned by the Dickinson Robinson Group or DRG by the looks of it, a name I remember seeing a lot during my childhood and teens but not much since (as it appears to no longer exist).

 

[GatwickDepress]

'Frisbee' is a registered trademark of the American toy company Wham-O, but is used to describe any generic flying disc product.

 

[GusB]

"Brillo pad" is a term that was always used in our household, even though we always bought the supermarket own brands. Fairy liquid for washing up liquid in general and Domestos for bleach.

Edited to add Jif for cream cleaner, even though it has been called Cif for years.

 

[Thirteen]

A "Henry" to describe a small, rotund "Hoover" on wheels.

A "Flymo" to describe any brand of hovering lawnmower.

A Henry isn't a Henry without a face.

Does anyone ever describe a bagless vacuum cleaner as a Dyson? I don't but I'm sure others do.

 

[OhNoAPacer]

A Henry isn't a Henry without a face.

Does anyone ever describe a bagless vacuum cleaner as a Dyson? I don't but I'm sure others do.

Where I worked had a marketplace on the intranet, on more than one occasion I saw people advertising Dyson Hoovers for sale.

 

[Stan63]

I'm sure Perspex was an ICI product.

 

[htafc]

Has Tarmac been said yet?

 

[dgl]

I'm sure Perspex was an ICI product.

I believe it's called Lexan in the US, again a genericised trademark.

 

[Master Cutler]

I believe it's called Lexan in the US, again a genericised trademark.

Not quite, Perspex is PMMA or acrylic and lexan is PC or polycarbonate.

 

[pdq]

Less so these days, but Xerox was sometimes used as a generic term for a photocopier, and also as its verb: to Xerox a document.

 

[Gloster]

Something familiar to old signalmen: Brasso.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

iPod (MP3 player)
PlayStation (games console)

I must take issue with these two examples. The first because use of such devices has pretty much ended with the invention and widespread use of smartphones. The iPod does sort of live on in the form of the term "podcast" but that's getting into the weeds somewhat!

The second because nobody who is into gaming will ever use an incorrect term for their console of choice. You might get the odd grandparent who says their grandson is "always on his PlayStation" even if it's actually an Xbox, but it certainly isn't a genericised term. Someone has already mentioned hearing someone doing it the other way round, which surely debunks any idea that one of the two has become genericised.

Google has a stronger case, but that's mostly because nearly everyone actually does use Google rather than any of the other search engines available. Even if you do a search within a website, it's usually provided by Google.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Nov 2022 ==

A Henry isn't a Henry without a face.

Does anyone ever describe a bagless vacuum cleaner as a Dyson? I don't but I'm sure others do.

My mum owns a Numatic vacuum cleaner, but it's she's (the vac, not my mum! ) named Hetty rather than Henry, and always referred to as such. I do own a bagless vacuum cleaner manufactured by Vax, I've never called it a Dyson but I have used "hoover" both as a noun and a verb. There's a reason that "Hoover" is the go-to example for genericised trademarks. I'm sure the Domestos and Fairy Liquid examples do happen occasionally, but they won't be anything like as widespread as Hoover.

 

[Master Cutler]

Gurney was another term we used during my apprenticeship. We brought the dies from the press shop in to the tool room on flat four wheeled carts we called Gurneys. In actual fact none were trade marked as Gurney but all had different manufacturers under a variety of names. But every flat trolley was called a Gurney.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Nov 2022 ==

Bridgeport was another term we always used for a turret type vertical milling machine during my apprenticeship days.
These technical generic terms always seemed to have an American origin when related to manufacturing.

 

[dgl]

I do own a bagless vacuum cleaner manufactured by Vax, I've never called it a Dyson but I have used "hoover" both as a noun and a verb. There's a reason that "Hoover" is the go-to example for genericised trademarks. I'm sure the Domestos and Fairy Liquid examples do happen occasionally, but they won't be anything like as widespread as Hoover.

That's actually acceptable as due to the selling of Hoover's European operations to Candy (both now owned by Haier, I believe) and the American operation now owned by TTi, who acquired Vax some time ago, that's exactly what you've got, a Hoover ad would be sold as such in the US and some other markets.

 

[Bald Rick]

From 20-30 years ago: Durex.

Theres a fabulous old Jasper Carrot routine about this, because back then “Durex” was also the brand name for sellotape in Australia.

Aussie bloke walks into Boots in London, asks for some Durex.
“Of course, how many?”
”Oh, just a roll”
”A ROLL???!!!”

 

[DelW]

Biro.

That's an unusual one, in that the "Biro" brand disappeared decades ago. I remember having one or two ballpoint pens with that brand name in the 1960s but I haven't seen it since then. Of course the name originated with the inventor László Bíró, not just the eponymous company.

As an aside, Bic pens, also used as a generic name in some countries, have by contrast become almost universal. The Bic Crystal is (almost) unchanged since the 1950s, which must count as a design classic.

 

[Calthrop]

Gurney was another term we used during my apprenticeship. We brought the dies from the press shop in to the tool room on flat four wheeled carts we called Gurneys. In actual fact none were trade marked as Gurney but all had different manufacturers under a variety of names. But every flat trolley was called a Gurney.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Nov 2022 ==

Bridgeport was another term we always used for a turret type vertical milling machine during my apprenticeship days.
These technical generic terms always seemed to have an American origin when related to manufacturing.

In American writing, I've often come across "gurney" (small g) meaning a wheeled stretcher for transporting hospital patients -- something for which there doesn't seem to be a single British English word !

 

[61653 HTAFC]

In American writing, I've often come across "gurney" (small g) meaning a wheeled stretcher for transporting hospital patients -- something for which there doesn't seem to be a single British English word !

I thought that was those blokes (and lasses) who could stretch their bottom lips up to cover the tip of their nose!

 

[pdq]

How about an Aga for any type of 'traditional' oven/range cooker

 

[Ediswan]

Dexion metal shelving systems.

 

[Mojo]

I've heard Kitchen Aid used to describe any kitchen stand mixer.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Dexion metal shelving systems.

Is that brand name used all that often, generically?

 

[dgl]

I've heard Kitchen Aid used to describe any kitchen stand mixer.

or a Kenwood/Kenwood Chef

 

[Geezertronic]

But that’s because they’re using Google. That’s not a generic term. Browsing the forum here isn’t “googling”.

I'd be surprised if you heard someone say that they would Bing something or Yahoo something or MSN something, even if they were using one of those search engines - the phase more commonly used is Google something.

Searching the web (or "Googling" the web) is different from searching from within a single site such as this forum

 

[ex-railwayman]

"Petrol" was first used to describe the product of the Carless, Capel & Leonard company. At the time all other producers used the term "Motor Sprit".

I was under the impression that 'petrol' was just a shortening of the naming petroleum, as this company were refinerers of petroleum spirit, just like 'gas' was/is short for gasoline?

Cheerz. Steve.

 

[XAM2175]

I've heard Kitchen Aid used to describe any kitchen stand mixer.

or a Kenwood/Kenwood Chef

I've always thought of them as Mixmasters, after Sunbeam's trademark.