~10 years ago I would say “google it” often. But now I don’t think I say that at all, and would say “search for it” or similar.
I don’t think I really consciously decided to stop saying it, but I suppose it just felt weird to explicitly refer to one search engine while using another.
Just me? Do you say, or hear others say, “google it” in $current_year? Is it different for techies and normies?
And velcro is velcro, not “hook and loop fastener”.
I have a coke, not a “carbonated beverage”.
Etc etc.
Jacuzzi, zipper, crockpot, dumpster, pong pong, escalator, chapstick, popsicle, frisbee and styrofoam are all examples of the same thing, known as trademark erosion
Do you call it a coke when youre having a different drink though?
I don’t, but lots of people in the Southern United States do. I think in English I’d just call it “a soda” generically.
I live in Finland and our generic word for a sugary soft drink is “limu”/“limppari”, which comes from “limonaati”, a nativised version of “lemonade”.
I remember the Velcro legal campaign insisting generics or other brands refer to it as hook and loop and I thought it was a missed opportunity. Velcro brand Velcro or simply Velcro™ with the trademark would be adequate differentiation between the brand and the technology. It would also remind everyone who invented it, much like Kodak and Xerox.