Hi, American here, from northern Jersey near NYC. I was reading the thread about handkerchiefs and saw a lot of people in the comments saying “Kleenex” to refer to tissues. I’ve always heard this used as an example of “objects referred to by brand names”, but didn’t really see or hear anyone use it in conversation: I’ve never said “pass a Kleenex”, even if the box of tissues was Kleenex brand. Do you say “Kleenex” often to refer to any tissues?
27 comments
I say tissues
Yes. I would never say tissue. Always Kleenex, even if it’s tearing off some toilet paper to wipe my nose, it’s a Kleenex lol.
I typically say “tissue” but I hear Kleenex a lot.
I say tissue. In all reality I sometimes blow my nose with toilet paper or dampened paper towels since I’m a savage.
I say Kleenex and tissue
Tissue is what I usually say but Kleenex is a brand name that has become standard like xerox or google.
It is actually a big issue in trademark law.
Did you know that gasoline, kerosine, band-aid, jacuzzi, onesie, dry ice, escalator, laundromat, trampoline and videotape were all once trademarked names?
I say both. No rhyme or reason to why I’ll go with one over the other.
Yep, sometimes. “Do you have a kleenex?” / “here’s a kleenex,””there’s kleenex in the cupboard.”
Other proprietary eponyms / genericizations / generic trademarks I use commonly would be bandaid, crock pot, chapstick, Tupperware – the list goes on.
Me: Are you using toilet paper as Kleenex?
Wife: Yes, my allergies are acting up!
Technically, it’s “facial tissue” but most say “tissue” for short.
Kleenex is a brand name. It’s like using “Zoom” to refer to all video calls regardless of which app is used.
Interchangeably
I always say tissue, but Kleenex is common enough that I wouldn’t bat an eye at it.
A tissue of any brand is called a Kleenex. Just like any lip balm is chapstick. It sounds weird to me the other way.
Yup and I also use q-tips to clean my ears even if they are not Q-Tip brand q-tips.
i don’t.
but it’s a common thing, yea. same as everybody just says “google it”. they mean “search” it but “google” is synonymous with searching on the internet now.
it’s called “genericization”.
Yeah, Kleenex is usually my default
In some areas of the country “tissue” means toilet paper. I notice that in those areas, people use Kleenex to mean facial tissue.
I say tissue. Never Kleenex. However my fiancé and his whole family say Kleenex. And they also call all diapers “pampers.” (Even though we only use
Huggies).
Kleenex
Certain brands names have became the name for items. In fact when that happens the company tends to lose the trademark. Bandaids, Kleenex, and several others have gone through this. Google for a while tried to lead a campaign to get people to stop saying googling when searching something up.
yeah i say both but say kleenex most of the time. i also use it as an example frequently when talking about language and stuff for this exact reason lol
I always says Kleenex.
Kleenex is commonly used for generic tissue in California
it’s called a genericized trademark
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark)
I’ve said kleenex since before I was born.
I personally don’t but I know people that do refer to it as Kleenex.
They’re interchangeable. And I have lived in Kentucky and California, more people in California refer to things by brand names, and out here? It seems to be “pass me a tissue.”