During long road trips, we used to play games to pass the time, and one of our favorites was listing brands so closely tied to their products that their names became the go-to term for the item itself—regardless of the actual brand. Apparently this phenomenon is called a generic trademark.
Here is my list of those generic trademarks:
B
- Band-Aid for adhesive bandages
C
- ChapStick for lip balm
- Crock-Pot for slow cookers
D
- DoorDash for food-delivering services
G
- Google for internet searches
J
- Jacuzzi for hot tubs
K
- Kleenex for facial tissues
Q
- Q-tip for cotton swabs
R
- Rollerblade for inline skates
T
- Tupperware for food storage container
U
- Uber for ride-sharing services
V
- Velcro for hook-and-loop fasteners
X
- Xerox for photocopying
Z
- Ziploc for resealable plastic bags