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Company Names as Verbs

Dec 18, 2005 8:05 PM
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You can FedEx something, or you can UPS it. You can Xerox a document and Google just about anything.

What other company names are commonly used as verbs?


Comments: Company Names as Verbs

I Grossberged your website.

:)

Posted by: Alan Green on December 18, 2005 11:07 PM | permalink

Thanks, but how "common" is that? ;)

Posted by: Joe Grossberg on December 18, 2005 11:40 PM | permalink

I've heard Kleenex used as a verb, but more commonly as a generic noun used for all tissues.

Probably Q-Tip is pretty common as a verb, too.

Posted by: ChuckJerry on December 19, 2005 8:36 AM | permalink

Enron

Posted by: Daffy on December 19, 2005 8:40 AM | permalink

I've never heard Kleenex or Q-Tip as verbs, though I have heard them as generic nouns. Also they are product names, not company names.

While Enron stands as a symbol for a lot, I haven't heard it used as that particular part of speech.

Posted by: Joe Grossberg on December 19, 2005 8:49 AM | permalink

Ditto to Enron...I've heard that a few times.

Posted by: Bubba on December 19, 2005 11:25 AM | permalink

Can you give me an example of how Enron is used? As in "He Enron'd last year's sales numbers"?

Posted by: Joe Grossberg on December 19, 2005 11:45 AM | permalink

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Enroned

Posted by: Daffy on December 19, 2005 2:46 PM | permalink

http://enron.urbanup.com/829152

Posted by: Daffy on December 19, 2005 2:49 PM | permalink

As you mentioned, Joe, it might be more interesting to think of product brand names that are used synonyms with the generic noun for that product. (As you mentioned: Kleenex, Q-Tip: also, Band-Aid, Wite-Out, etc...)

I couldn't think of any *companies* off the top of my head. There must be a couple...

Posted by: Max on December 19, 2005 3:45 PM | permalink

No, I'm not interested in the products, because there are a million of them.

Posted by: Joe Grossberg on December 19, 2005 4:15 PM | permalink

Post-It!!
The post-it in my cube has his number..

Posted by: bullmann on December 20, 2005 9:40 PM | permalink

How about Tivo?

Posted by: ChuckJerry on December 21, 2005 11:09 PM | permalink

Yep -- TiVo Inc. is the name of the company.

And, no, Post-It is the product; 3M is the company.

Posted by: Joe Grossberg on December 22, 2005 8:35 AM | permalink

Hoover. I hoover stuff up whenever my flatmate tells me to...

Posted by: Andrew Ducker on December 22, 2005 3:51 PM | permalink

No more comments! Either someone has violated Godwin's Law, I'm tired of the discussion or, most likely, the ten-week window has closed. You can, however, contact me through email.