Terms Which Have Disappeared

[BlueTrain]

Well, in Germany you have to be especially good for St. Nicholas because if you aren't, Krampus will get you. Nothing like that here; Santa either shows up or he doesn't and that's enough punishment.

Are there "speed traps" in Germany?

 

[Trenchfriend]

Are there "speed traps" in Germany?

Of course. But very less of them. Normally just spot checking, not more.

 

[tonyb]

My father's mother referred to what I would call a "sofa" or "couch" as a "davenport". I don't hear that term these days. According to this web site (http://furniture.about.com/od/furnitureglossary/g/Davenport.htm) the name comes from the name of the company which manufactured a popular line of furniture, particularly this sort of multi-person seating item.

I recall long-since deceased folks call all refrigerators "Frigidaires" (when they weren't calling them "ice boxes").

When microwave ovens first found their way into working-class kitchens those then-still-surviving old-timers commonly called them "Radar Ranges."

Few brand names stand in for all products of their kind anymore. "Kleenex" still does, kind of.

 

[tonyb]

Here's what Wiki has to say about it:
The term couch is used in North America and Australia, whilst the term sofa is generally used in the United Kingdom. The word originated in Middle English from the Old French noun couche, which derived from the verb meaning "to lie down". It originally denoted an item of furniture for lying or sleeping on, somewhat like a chaise longue, but now refers to sofas in general.
Other terms which can be synonymous with the above definition are settee, chesterfield, divan, davenport, lounge, and canapé. The word sofa is from Turkish derived from the Arabic word suffa for "wool", originating in the Aramaic word sippa for "mat". The word settee comes from the Old English word, "setl", which was used to describe long benches with high backs and arms, but is now generally used to describe upholstered seating.

Just to add further confusion, the word settee still has much currency in the UK, although used far less, most know what it is. And for what it's worth, I don't have any individual armchairs, just two settees, one two seater, the other seats three.

Got any research on "divan"? I used to hear that used every now and then, but I can't recall when I last did.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

"Frigidaire" is now a brand name owned by Eletrolux that Americans began to use as a generic, the way "Hoover"means vacuum cleaner in the UK and "Kodak" means a camera in Germany. I remember people using the term "refrigidaire" for refrigerator. There is a long history of brand names that became generics like "band-aid," "cellophane," "kleenex,"etc.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Aspirin" and "Heroin" both were trademarks that became genericized, and which are both with us yet today.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Got any research on "divan"? I used to hear that used every now and then, but I can't recall when I last did.

I'm pretty certain I've read that "divan" is a word of Turkish origin. Let me check.
Yep, I love it when I remember something! Here's the WikiPedia entry for divan.

 

[tonyb]

"Aspirin" and "Heroin" both were trademarks that became genericized, and which are both with us yet today.

Which points to why trademark holders aggressively defend them. If you have a history of allowing "minor" infringements, it is much more difficult to prevail when going after subsequent infringements. So Starbucks has its lawyers fire off cease and desist letters to little one-shop operations who come up with some cutesy allusion to the coffee giant in their names and/or logos. The big bad giant might come across as a meanie in press accounts of such actions, but the courts have really given them little choice.

 

[Stearmen]

I recall long-since deceased folks call all refrigerators "Frigidaires" (when they weren't calling them "ice boxes").

When microwave ovens first found their way into working-class kitchens those then-still-surviving old-timers commonly called them "Radar Ranges."

Few brand names stand in for all products of their kind anymore. "Kleenex" still does, kind of.

Prestone for all radiator fluids. A lot of people still say Reynolds Wrap. All small planes used to be Piper Cubs, now it's Cessna's. Lear for business jets, though Gulfstream may be taking over?

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

"Aspirin" and "Heroin" both were trademarks that became genericized, and which are both with us yet today.

Acetylsalicylic acid just doesn't trip off the tongue like "aspirin". It must have been the hated "boys in marketing" who persuaded the chemists that a shorter, easier to pronounce and remember name was just the thing for the label on the bottle.

 

[BobHufford]

A divan is an itchy couch covered with wool upholstery. At least that is how I remember it from my Grandma's house.

 

[Fading Fast]

Which points to why trademark holders aggressively defend them. If you have a history of allowing "minor" infringements, it is much more difficult to prevail when going after subsequent infringements. So Starbucks has its lawyers fire off cease and desist letters to little one-shop operations who come up with some cutesy allusion to the coffee giant in their names and/or logos. The big bad giant might come across as a meanie in press accounts of such actions, but the courts have really given them little choice.

I agree with this and have always been bugged by it both philosophically and practically. Just because you don't defend your trademark against every little infringement shouldn't weaken your case when you defend it against a large one. And to your point, it forces a company that might let little infringements go, act like a brute and this feeds into the already exaggerated view that all corporations are horrible entities.

A similar thing goes on here in NYC with "public" spaces. If a company lets the public use part of its private areas long enough, then the company risks loosing them as private spaces. For example, if you built your building with a covered walkway through to another block and you let the public use it long enough, you can't just close it down one day because it's now falls into some grey area called "public space." I am not up on all the particulars, but I don't understand how letting someone use something of yours for free then entitles them to continue using that for free even if you no longer want them to.

The result has been a lot of buildings now wall off private outdoor spaces and, as TonyB says, get blasted in the press as elitist, the 1%, blah, blah, blah, but they only did it because, if they didn't, they'd risk losing effective ownership of the space altogether. I worked for a company that built a building and faced just this decision.

They truly wanted to build a nice public space with tables, plantings, etc., but chose not to under legal advice that they risked losing control of that space forever. They considered building an outdoor space just for their employees (so they could have lunch, coffee breaks, etc. in a nice outdoor space), but didn't want to be blasted in the press about "walling themselves off from the riff raft" etc. - which is how the press presents such stories - when the only reason they even thought of the wall was to protect the space against it becoming "public space."

So in the end, the company chose not to build any outdoor space - controversy avoided and everyone lost. No one ever calls the gov't or the media bullying, greedy, obnoxious, etc., but it was those two entities - not the company - that caused the public to lose a nice outdoor space.

 

[Trenchfriend]

"Aspirin" and "Heroin" both were trademarks that became genericized, and which are both with us yet today.

In public transportation, old-fashion heroin would be better than chavvy alcohol. On heroin, people would be smiling, looking tensed through the window, hearing Mozart on earphones and would say: "Good day! How do you do? Take a seat, this one here is free".

 

[HudsonHawk]

"Aspirin" and "Heroin" both were trademarks that became genericized, and which are both with us yet today.

Kerosene
Escalator
Dry ice
Zipper
Bubble wrap

Still quite a few out there.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Kerosene
Escalator
Dry ice
Zipper
Bubble wrap

Still quite a few out there.

And you would never hear a German saying the international term "Zipper".

 

[skydog757]

I have read the term "flivver" applied to a car, but I've never heard it spoken.

 

[BlueTrain]

Well, you must not go to the right places. Either that or you're not 90 years old. In any event, I don't think it was considered a term you'd used for a "nice" car. It might have been a jalopy or a rattletrap, but all those terms probably have more precise meanings than they deserve.

Even the word "nice" can have curious and twisted meanings. But a nice car is always going to be a nice car.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A "flivver" was specifically a Model T Ford. Usually an old, dirty, rattly one you could hear coming a mile away.

 

[Haversack]

In regard to organizations protecting their trademarks, the situation can sometimes seem to be taken too far. 1. The Commonwealth of Kentucky's, (i.e. the state government), trademarking the name 'Kentucky' caused Kentucky Fried Chicken to change its name to 'KFC' and the Kentucky Derby to change its name to 'The Run for the Roses' instead of paying licensing fees. 2. The Tillamook County Creamery Association's, (Tillamook Cheese), trademark dispute with Tillamook Country Smoker caused several other businesses in the county to cease using the name 'Tillamook'. Similarly, after the Tillamook Creamery bought the Bandon Cheese Factory in Southern Oregon, it sent 'lawyer letters' to local businesses using the name 'Bandon'. 3. McDonalds has on multiple occasions attempted to prevent other businesses from using the 'Mc' or 'Mac' prefix with varying degrees of success. It has generally run into problems in Commonwealth countries where a substantial number of people are of Scottish or Irish descent.

 

[HudsonHawk]

A lot of people don't know that the trademark "Apple" is owned by The Beatles for many things musical and electronic and Apple Computers has had to pay them to license many things. For example, Apple Computer had to pay them something like $600MM to be allowed to create iTunes.