In a recent post, Don’t Do Due Diligence, I used the word Realtor as if it were a generic word for “real estate agent”:
Not so very long ago, the only people I heard talk about “due diligence” were realtors.
I should have caught myself on that. Realtor–with a capital–is the legally recognized trademark of the National Association of Realtors. The correct use of the word is to refer to members of the Association and not to real estate agents in general.
As tends to happen with clever commercial coinages, Realtor is being pulled toward generic use because it strikes speakers as an apt and concise substitute for the longer term, “real estate agent.” I have a feeling that general usage will eventually claim Realtor as it has so many similar inventions, but as a professional writer, I can be expected to observe the conventions. Apologies for my lapse, therefore, are due the NAR.
Here is a list of other trademarked words that many English speakers use generically. Each term is followed by a suggested alternative and the name of the trademark’s owner. The list is by no means exhaustive.
AstroTurf (artificial turf) – Monsanto
Band-Aid (adhesive bandage) – Johnson & Johnson
Bubble Wrap (inflated cushioning for packaging) – Sealed Air
ChapStick (lip balm) – Wyeth Consumer Healthcare
Clorox (bleach) – Clorox Company
Coke (soft drink) – Coca-Cola Company
Crayola (crayon) – Binney & Smith Company
Crescent Wrench (adjustable wrench) – Crescent Tool Company
Crock-Pot (slow cooker) – Sunbeam Products
Cuisinart (food processor) – Conair
Dumpster (front loader waste container) – Dempster Brothers, Inc.
Fiberglas (glass wool) – Owens Corning
Formica (wood or plastic laminate) – Formica Corporation/Fletcher – Building
Freon (refrigerant) – Dupont
Frisbee (flying disk) – Wham-O
Google (Web search engine) – Google Inc.
Jacuzzi (hot tub/whirlpool bath) – Jacuzzi
Jeep (compact sport utility vehicle) – Chrysler
Kitty Litter (litter box filler) – Ralston Purina
Kleenex (facial tissue) – Kimberly-Clark
Memory Stick (flash memory storage device) – Sony
Ping Pong (table tennis) – Parker Brothers
Popsicle (flavored ice treat) – Good Humor-Breyers
Post-it (sticky note) – 3M
Q-Tips (cotton swabs) – Unilever
Scotch tape (clear adhesive tape) – 3M
Sharpie (permanent marker) – Newell Rubbermaid
Styrofoam (extruded polystyrene foam) – Dow Chemical Company
Super Glue (Cyanoacrylate adhesive) – Super Glue Corporation
Tarmack (asphalt road surface) – Tarmac
Taser (stun gun) – Taser International
Teflon (non-stick coating) – Dupont
The purpose in trademarking a name is to prevent it from being used to describe a similar product made by another manufacturer. If a permanent marker is a Sharpie, call it that; otherwise, call it “a permanent marker.” And when you use any of these terms, be sure to capitalize them and use hyphens or camel case as appropriate.
Note: Camel case is the practice of writing compound words or phrases in a combination of capital and lowercase letters. For example: AstroTurf, ChapStick, iPhone, PowerPoint.
Related post: Factoid and Tabloid
HI – The word “astroturf” has another meaning – astroturf organizations are simply fake grassroots organizations usually created and/or sponsored by large corporations to support any arguments or claims in their favor, or to challenge and deny those against them.
Cho, C. H., Martens, M. L., Kim, H., & Rodrigue, M. (2011). Astroturfing global warming: It isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence. Journal of business ethics, 104(4), 571-587.
Maeve,
“Fiberglass” may be free to use. On their website, Owens-Corning spells their trademark name with only one ‘s’ –and it’s in all-caps, and accompanied by the registered word “PINK.”
I haven’t done an exhaustive search, so they or somebody else may have appropriated the word as you’ve shown it.
Seriously? The other trademarked words are all products or things. Trademarking ‘realtor’ was meant to attach some preternatural importance to that function, which is all the more laughable when you consider that at least half of realtors don’t even pronounce the name of their position correctly, saying ‘real-a-tor’ instead. Great marketing on their part, which you might expect from a group that gets to hang their shingle after taking a few weeks of correspondence coursework that entitles them to 6% of the most important purchase any American ever makes. Oh, and a job that mostly entails pointing the way to a bathroom or bedroom and ‘closing the deal’ by having the buyer sign or initial an endless stream of boiler-plate documents, most of which is handled anyway by some minimum wage office assistant. Brilliant.
Curtis,
You’re correct. The trademarked word is “Fiberglas.” One ought to be able to refer to “fiberglass.” (Or, if writing for a British readership, “fibreglass.”)
I’ll have it corrected as soon as I can.
Thanks.
Wow, very interesting! I didn’t know that some of those were really brand trademarks: crock-pot, kitty litter, ping pong, and popsicle! I was aware of Jello which didn’t make the list and Lifesavers candy (I don’t have a trademark character on my keyboard, so far as I know). When I was kid I remember joking about having a ” a digital laceration requiring a one-inch adhesive gauze strip” to make it sound more grave and ominous than a band-aid for your cut finger. It might be the only thing I remember from my first aid training. That’s not good.
I didn’t see iPod on this list. Is it ok to use that in a book? If not, is mp3 player the proper way to dance around it?