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Hey Pandas, What Object Do You Know By A Brand Name And Not By Its Actual Name? (Closed)
Some brands become so popular that we tend to call the objects by the brand name instead. Share the brand names that you use casually.
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Petroleum jelly aka white petrolatum is always just “Vaseline.”
They have 150 years on all other comers - what else are you going to call it?
Other than Kleenex being the most used name, I'd like to throw Tupperware for any food storage container into the pot.
Probably because... "food storage container" is quite a bit more the mouthful!
Band-aid
In China, asking for a band-aid will get you a gauze roll. You have to ask for “wound plaster” or just show the pharmacist a photo on your phone
For the older ones among us: xeroxing for copying paper.
Not an object, but "Google it". It's a verb now.
I think that's mainly from it being one of the few search engines left. And by far the most popular. I find it funny to think about the older ones, what if bing was the best so we said "Bing it!" it's kinda funny to me
"Dumpster" is actually a Brand, not the proper name of the Garage Bin.
Haven't seen anyone mention Scotch tape or Krazy glue.
Scotch (3M) did seem to get a lock on tape but, more often I hear people refer to Super Glue. Both are cyanoacrylates but the forenamed has been around since 1942...
regardless of the fact that a brand named Hydro was the original Oreo, I will forever, undoubtedly, refer to the beautiful creation of black biscuits and white cream as Oreo.
And nobody can stop me.
Trampoline is a brand name. I think it was originally called a tumbling device.
"i'm going to take a bounce on my tumbling device, mum!"
Q-tips, I didn't know for decades that there was a other name for them. Same for Kleenex and Band-Aids.
I usually refer to disinfecting wipes as Lysol wipes, and I've always said Lysol wipes regardless of what brand I buy.
Kind of more of a Canadian thing, I think, but I always refer to boxed Mac and Cheese as KD, or Kraft Dinner.
I’m surprised that it hasn’t shown up here yet! Jacuzzi is just a brand, it’s a HOT TUB
Hot tub is a bit different than most of these on this list. It's more like a snow blower in its obscurity - "Later, I need to Torro my driveway!"" seems contrived!
scotch tape
In the past people would call it Scotch tape (my grandparents did) but now in Australia it is always called sticky tape.
Craisin. Specific brand of dried cranberries, but it's easier to say so I refer to all dried cranberries as Craisins.
Ocean Spray trademarked the word "craisin", but now everyone and their pets call dried cranberries craisins
bandaid, even though they are just bandages
All wet wipes are called Clorox, even though it's only a brand.
Same with Windex
no, we call them wetwipes in africa. You must be speaking on behalf of america.
Escalator, that's actually a brand name
So are several other things. I think there's a word used to describe products commonly referred by a popular brand name
In UK
Sellotape
Hoover
Vicks (vaporub)
Lemsip
I'm sure there are more but I can't think of them.
Nurofen, even if it's own brand, because ibuprofen is scary to pronounce
Sellotape. Though that might be genericised.
Allen wrench/key. Allen is the company that made hex wrenches.
Biro. Pretty sure Bic owns that.
Velcro. Common one there.
Super glue. Pretty sure that is trademarked.
Hoover. UK one there.
Comic con. SDCC owns that one, though ours uses the term and has no association, so maybe that is just an American trademark.
Chapstick. Ain't never a day in my life where I've asked for a tube of lip balm.
It's defo lip balm. Doesnt matter the brand. Only ever heard it being called chap stick by American people.
A lot of people do not know that Heroin is actually a brand name.
Hoover, their are other brands of vacuum cleaner
Tempo. In Germany, that's a synonym for Papiertaschentücher a.k.a. paper handkerchiefs.
In America it's Kleenex a brand of Facial Tissues, same product different words.
In India every noodle is called Maggie, which is a specific noodle brand.
Dustbuster: It is a registered brand to Black and Decker. However, all small handheld vacuums are called Dustbusters.
I use my Small Portable Handheld Vacuum Cleaner often and don't bust dust.
I play ultimate Frisbee, buttechnicaply I play ultimate throwing disc.
Channellock Pliers they are water pump pliers. Vice Grips are locking pliers. Tylenol for the Pain Reliever Acetaminophen.
Swiss army knife.
(Think it's "Victornox" or something now)
Velcro. Thats just the brand, it's technically called hook and loop closure.
"Ziploc bags" no matter what brand of plastic bags we have
In much of south America and the Caribbean - "Pampers" for any diapers, "Jeep" for any small/medium SUV, and for Haiti specifically, "Gilette" for any razor blade.
Kleenex and Jacuzzi
I like to Swiffer my floors.
There's a shop that my whole family calls 'the bread shop' and I genuinely thought that was its name for my entire childhood. Drove past the other day, and turns out it's actually called Fruitcakes Bakery
Cokes. want a coke? what kind? Sprite, diet, Dr Pepper...
Kleenex; tupperwe….i cant spell; band-aids; lysol; anddddd scotch tape
Still always say "Doing the hoovering" at home. We have never owned a Hoover vacuum cleaner. It's definitely a UK thing!
All my childhood I called toothpaste 'colgate' irrespective of the brand
Recognition of the value in advertising had a large hand in play with many of these - especially as TV came on the scene. Colgate was a 'heavy hitter', as I recall. Crest is probably the equivalent in the 2000s...
Cola (Coke) for any brown lemonade / carbonated soft drink.
.
Tampax,
Tupperware. There’s the Tupperware Company containers, but everything else is technically just a container. I still call it a Tupperware though.
So these are some from my childhood in Malaysia. Good times.
Milo = chocolate malt drink...I think Nestle made them. Ribeena = concentrated blackcurrant syrup that comes in this soy sauce shape glass bottle. You dilute like a spoonful in water for a grapey juice. Not sure who made them.
Sarsi = pretty much any coke/Pepsi ish sarsaparilla soft drinks
Dutch Lady = it's a condensed milk manufactured by Nestle I think.
All food. Haha... Good times. A tad melancholic too (Permanently in New York here).
Ooh, Vegemite too anyone?
Also... Not physical things... But how bout SoHo or Broadway?
UHU for adhesives (Germany, again). :-)
Malaysian here! I remember us kids use the same term when we were in elementary school. At least to the roll-up glue stick.
Fevicol. It's an adhesive or glue. But everyone says put Fevicol - Brand name
All plastic grocery sacks are called “Walmart bags” in my family. (I don’t live where they are banned.)
I call any vacuum cleaner a Hoover, whether it's made by Hoover or not and a hand held mini-vac is a mini Hoover. :D
-Febreeze, even if I’m spraying something else.
-Cerave instead of body wash.
-Tide or Downey regardless of what laundry detergent it actually is, and same with Dawn for dish detergent.
-Mio or Propel, not flavored water.
Almost forgot "Palm Pilot" for any PDA (obviously before "smart" phones.) And for many older folks, "Bitcoin" for any cryptocurrency, "Nintendo" for any video game console, and "Gameboy" for any portable gaming device.
Thomas the train? It’s supposed to be Thomas the Tank Engine. Wait what’s the question?
The trucks who came down your street with … farm fresh produce - fresh baked breads & cookies, Ice cream bars & popsicles = we didn't know their company names, they were all simply called "The Veggie Man" - "The Cookie Man! " "The Ice Cream Man!" Then there's the neighborhood Milk (Dairy) man, Postman & Policemen.
Reynolds wrap & Saran Wrap! Then Mayo: for them all … Mustard: for them all … Hot sauce: for them all. But... we do have our FAVORITES! And...the family grocery shopper knows them.
In Australia, the man who sold rabbits door to door was called a Rabbit-o, which was so common we have a rugby team called the Rabbitohs.
Roller lint? Or lint roller?
Lint roller because it’s a roller for lint. “Roller lint” makes no sense.
Neo-Citrine. All I know is it as acetaminophen and tastes like hot lemons.
