Let's get down to business...It's business time.
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| Some gargoyles in a trash receptacle. NYC, summer 2008. Good times. |
At one time or another, we've all said "Kleenex" when we mean "tissue," "Tylenol" when we mean "acetaminophen," and "Chapstick" for "lip balm." Kleenex, Tylenol, and Chapstick are all trade names or business names. These words are trademarked but are widely accepted over the generic term.
Add another one to your list: Dumpster. That's right, with a capital D. Why is that? Because "Dumpster" is actually the trade name for "waste
receptacle," "trash bin," or maybe even "rubbish container."
Maybe not the last one.
I doubt that people would rather say "I'm going to take this trash out to the waste receptacle," but this is good to know all the same especially in professional writing or to impress your friends at your high school reunion.
Here's proof that Dumpster as a trade name isn't just nerd-information. In a Simpsons episode titled "The Otto Show," the show's writers acknowledge this trade name.
Bart: Otto-Man? You're living in a dumpster?
Otto: Ho, man, I wish. Dumpster-brand trash bins are top-of-the-line.
This is just a Trash-Co waste disposal unit.
-- His summer home is the aluminum recycle bin down the street,
And now you know.
Labels: words
