Readers: Companies pay a lot of money to come up with brand names, and they guard them passionately. They know that if a trademarked product becomes a commonly used part of the lexicon, courts can void its proprietary status. See the list below, courtesy of La Salle University. None of these is generic! Not all facial tissue is Kleenex. 

• Band-Aid

• Brillo Pad

• ChapStick

• Clorox

• Coke

• Cool Whip

• Crisco

• Jacuzzi

• Kleenex

• Kool-Aid

• Styrofoam

• Tabasco sauce

• Tupperware

• Vaseline

• Ziploc bags

And the rules committee’s Lou Ann adds: “Also AstroTurf, Frisbee and, believe it or not, Bubble Wrap.”

Watch this on video! https://youtu.be/UyB_PCbHBSs

Next time: Foreign phrases. ¡Cuidado! Mise en garde! Vorsicht!

Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong," features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police:” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we properly can credit you. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com

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