50 Household Terms You Might Not Know Were Brand Names
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(Image credit: Bridget Pizzo)
Many of the terms you use around the house are actually trademarked. (“Grab me a kleenex, will you?”) Or at least they were at one point, before we all started using them as if they were just a regular part of the English language. And actually, a few of the brands on this list have lost the right to enforce their trademark because the term became so commonplace.
So here they are in one tidy list (a little ammunition for your next trivia night). Ranging from common knowledge to totally obscure, here are 50 words you might not know were actually brand names. Starting with the familiar ones…
- Kleenex
- Band-Aid
- Google (you can google it)
- Sharpie
- Vaseline
- Aspirin (and Heroin, actually; both were trademarks of Bayer until WWI and the Treaty of Versailles)
- Scotch tape
- Q-Tips
(Image credit: Yana Gayvoronskaya)
- Post-It
- Teflon
- Tupperware
- Winnebago
- Powerpoint (if you didn’t make it with Microsoft, it’s just a “presentation”)
- Frisbee, Hula Hoop, Slip’n Slide & Hacky Sack (all owned by Wham-O)
- Zipper
- Thermos
- App (as in “App Store;” Apple abandoned this trademark)
- ChapStick
- Memory Stick
- Saran Wrap
- Cellophane
- Dumpster
- Laundromat
- Popsicle
- Crock-Pot
(Image credit: Emma Christensen)
- Ping-Pong
- Velcro
- Windbreaker
- Super Glue
- Freon
- Plexiglass
- Fiberglass
- Formica
- Linoleum
- Phillips head screwdriver
- Onesies (this belongs to Gerber, along with “Twosies” and “Funsies”)
(Image credit: Richard Popovic)
- Weed Eater
- Jacuzzi
- Trampoline
- Granola (in Australia and New Zealand, and formerly the U.S.)
- Realtor (refers only to members of the National Association of Realtors; non-members are “real estate agents”)
- Dry Ice
- Styrofoam
- Bubble Wrap
- Lava Lamp (you guys all still have one of those, right?)
- Kitty Litter (seriously)
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