Have you ever said you were going to ‘xerox’ some papers on the photocopier machine? Or grabbed a ‘Panadol’, even when the actual brand name might be something else?
If not, you might have eaten ‘maggi’ mee; used ‘ziploc bags’ or ‘tupperware’ for your kitchen needs; and you definitely have taken the ‘escalator’ or ‘elevator’.
Unbeknownst to many, these words are, or were, actually brand names. The fact that they are household words today means that they have become “proprietary eponyms”, also known as genericised trademarks.
How brand names turn generic
To become a proprietary eponym, brand names must undergo a linguistic process called ‘genericisation’.
With genericisation, a brand name may gradually shift from becoming a representation of a specific brand to a general name for the whole class of products to which the brand name belongs. In some cases, it might even go from a proper noun—one that you have to capitalise, like Google (“The search engine I use is Google.”)— to a word used as a verb, like google (“Just google it!”).
Genericisation happens when brands are successful, and more so with innovative and unique products. As the general population becomes more familiar with the brand, they begin to associate the product with the brand name itself—especially if few others are manufacturing the same.
When a word expands its meaning...
The genericisation that occurs with proprietary eponyms is part of a larger family of processes called ‘semantic broadening’. Essentially, this means that the word in question takes on a larger scope of meaning.
Semantic broadening can happen naturally over time. For example, the word ‘dog’ came from the Old English word docga, which was used to refer to a very specific, powerful breed of canine. Today, the word ‘dog’ simply refers to all dogs.
Another example is the word ‘thing’, which is about as generic as they come. Centuries ago, the word referred to a meeting or assembly of some sort. Later, it began to refer to the subject of discussion during assemblies. Now, as we all know, ‘thing’ simply refers to any object.
Test Yourself
