What we call bandaids is actually adhesive medical strips. But we call them bandaids because that was the most common brand name for them

23 comments

  1. The first that came to mind for me were:

    • Sellotape (sticky tape)

    • Post-its (sticky notes)

    • Vaseline (petroleum jelly)

  2. Q-tips are not actually called that, they are properly know as cotton swabs

    (or earwax removers, but for legal reasons thats a joke)

  3. We often use the brand name “Tipp-ex” as common name for correction fluid, “bic” for a ballpen or “Kleenex” for a paper tissue.

  5. Brits (maybe Irish too) call a vacuum cleaner a “hoover” after the brand and it’s even now a verb “I’m hoovering”.

  6. Well in Italy we have:

    “Nutella” (obviously ) for hazelnut spread

    “Scottex” instead of paper towel/ kitchen rolls

    “Vicks” is just ointment

    “Bic” for any ball pen

    “Cif” instead of spray kitchen cleaner

    “Moka” for any sort of stove top coffee pot

  7. Orkid: hygiene pads

    Selpak: paper tissue

    Vazelin: petroleum jelly

    Will add more if I remember.

  8. The most famous one is probably the name for chips in norway. It got the name “[Potetgull](https://noba.imgix.net/products/fa8d9a93-f43f-6129-da5a-889ddf4f8b4a?w=1000&auto=compress)” (literaly : potatoe gold). It was a product name for a type of chips sold in Norway many decades ago. Because it was the main producer of chips in norway that produced it, it became so popular to use the name that most people with the exception of some part of norway (maybe some of the south/western parts) use the name Potetgull for chips.

    Later it has been even court cases on the name because the the original producer of Potetgull, Maarud, wanted to “own”/copyright the name.. Though court stated that the name had become so widely used that they couldn’t own it..

    Still feels like most norwegians use the word “Potegull” no mather wheter it is from a company that uses the “Chips” name or not. Indeed the word is in the norwegian [dictionary](https://naob.no/ordbok/potetgull).

  9. In Sweden we have “Tops” (topz) for the cotton sticks and “Keso” for the cottage cheese. We also call the sticky notes Post-it’s.

  10. Kleenex (pronounced klínex because Spain loves phonetics) for the tissues.

    Viks vaporub is also there.

    Evax, and tampax, for hygienic pads & tampons (they are the most common sold brands)

    Chupachups for the spheric lollypop (iirc one of the greatest Spanish inventions)

    Pato WC for the WC cleaning product that cames as liquid in a bottle with the s shaped neck.

    I, being an Old one, still sometimes call “metrobus” the 10-trip travel card for public transport (combined all of them) , although metrobus was only existing in my homecity and only till my twenties

  11. In Italy we have:

    -Bancomat (ATM)

    -Borotalco (talc)

    -Scottex (paper towel rolled around a cardboard roll)

    -Jeep (for every off-road 4×4 car)

    -Moka (a tipical Italian aluminium “machine” to do coffe, invented by Bialetti, a local factory)

  12. * *das Aspirin* — headache pill
    * *das Tempo* — paper handkerchief
    * *die Nivea* — skin cream
    * *das Tesa* — adhesive tape
    * *das Pattex* — glue
    * *die Hilti* — hammer drill
    * *der Kärcher* — pressure washer

  13. Yes , here’s some of them I can think of now :

    Jeep – all tall cars and SUVs

    Bancomat – ATM machine

    Pampers – Diaper

    Flex – angle grinder

    Vero – dish soap

  14. I’m amazed nobody has yet mentioned Adidas. In Poland people often call “adidasy” the shoes that are not made by Adidas but resemble them. This is the first thing that came to my mind.

    And we also use vaseline, but I think it’s a global example, because it’s called like that in science textbooks. I doubt many people know the etymology behind this word.

  16. “Hoover” became a noun and a verb in Ireland and also in Britain too because the brand was the first and most popular vacuum cleaner in this part of the world back in the early 20th century.

    All vacuum cleaners are referred to as “Hoovers,” regardless of what brand they are. People will ask for a “Miele Hoover” or a “Dyson Hoover” or “Henry the Hoover” a “box of Bosch hoover bags” etc etc

    You “hoover the carpet,” “do the hoovering,” “hoover it up,” etc etc
    It also can mean to eat something up quickly or even refer to things like acquiring knowledge very easily and rapidly.

    There are a few other ones like all paracetamol (acetaminophen to Americans) is Panadol.

    All washing-up liquid (dish soap) is “Fairy Liquid”

    Some Irish people, much to the upset of my English cousin, also refer to all 4×4 vehicles as “Jeeps” even though I’m not aware of Jeep ever having been a popular brand here. They’ll talk about “a Land Rover Jeep” or “that Range Rover is a lovely Jeep” which usually causes British car enthusiasts to become visibly upset.

    There are a few others like Sellotape (all sticky tape) and that can be turned into a verb too “sellotape it to the wall…”

    All car rescue services are called The AA, even when they’re nothing to do with the AA.

    Sticky plasters (for cuts) are referred to as either Bandaid or Elastoplast (interchangeably).

    The other one is probably the old trademarks for bank machines / ATMs. A lot of Irish people still talk about going to “the Banklink machine” which was AIB Bank’s trademark for an ATM, or “Pass machine”, my “Pass card” etc an old trademark, that’s no longer used belonging to Bank of Ireland for their cards and ATMs. PASS (Personal Automated Self Service).

    Also referring to all mains electricity, electricity bills etc as “the ESB” or an “ESB bill” which refers to the state owned Electricity Supply Board (ESB), which still exists but in a competitive market. The name was so well burnt into the Irish consumer psyche since 1927 that the energy regulator forced them to rebrand to help level the playing field for new market entrants. Their consumer division is now “Electric Ireland” but still “The ESB” to 99% of the population.

  17. Outside of those already mentioned (Aspirin, Cif, Post its, Jeep…) a few come to mind

    Jar = dishsoap
    Botasky = sneakers, after the brand Botas, but it is a bit old fashioned now
    Lux = vacuum cleaner, but actually more used as a verb to vacuum = vyluxovat

  18. Hoover – a lot of people call all of them this but hoover is the brand that makes vacuum cleaners, not every vacuum is a hoover.

    This actually blew my mind a little when my mum explained how Henry wasn’t actually a hoover…

  19. Sure. Some of them are:

    Merenda = Basically Nutella

    Blanco = Correction tape

    Hansaplast = adhesive medical strips

    Corn flakes= cereal

    Ajax = Window cleaner

    Liposan = lip balm

    Jeep = SUV

    Sellotape = sticky tape

  21. In the UK:

    * Hoover means vacuum cleaner, hoover was the most famous brand in the uk
    * Tannoy for public address system (also a brand of pa)
    * Pritt stick for any glue stick whether pritt stick or not
    * Same with sellotape – any clear adhesive tape rolls are called sellotape
    * Also for correction fluid – it is often called Tippex whether the fluid is from Tippex or not.

    In germany, where i live now for 20 years, I have noticed the following:

    * All pocket tissues are caleld Tempo whether they are the Tempo brand or not
    * All adhesive tapes are caled tesa whether this brand or not
    * Any breakfast cereal is often called cornflakes
    * Any kind of small cake (cup cake, fairy cake, butterfly cake, etc.) are caled muffins, whether they are muffins or not. In germany, if someone sends an email around the office claiming to have brought muffins for their birthday expect not to actually find muffins in the kitchen.

  22. Definitely some in Estonian that aren’t perhaps used as such in English: *žilett* (“razor blade” from Gillette), *džiip (“SUV” from Jeep) and *botas* (“sneaker” from the Czechoslovak company Botas).

  23. Yes, quite a few. Out of the top of my hand I could name:

    Labello – but it’s an Lippenpflegestift (lip balm stick)

    Zewa – is a “Küchenrolle”, more exact “Küchen-Einweg-Reinigungstuch” (kitchen roll)

    Tempo, Tempotaschentuch – is just a “Papiertaschentuch” aka paper handkerchief

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