What's the rule on this? When you use a proper noun as a verb, it loses the capitalization?
Like LEGO doesn't want people to say "LEGOs" when referring to, well, the toys that every single kid, ever, in the universe, since forever, has refered to as LEGOs. The url "legos.com" is now just a redirect to "lego.com" - but it used to be a disclaimer warning people that they should refer to LEGO products as "lego brand bricks" or some shit like that. Hasn't anybody ever told these corporations that there is no such thing as bad press?
Hasn't anybody ever told these corporations that there is no such thing as bad press?
Tell that to Aspirin.
From Wikipedia: "Bayer had been unable to stop competitors from copying the formula and using the name elsewhere, and so, with a flooded market, the public was unable to recognize "Aspirin" as coming from only one manufacturer. Sterling [which purchased the rights to Aspirin after the US government seized them during WWI*] was subsequently unable to prevent "Aspirin" from being ruled a genericized trademark in a U.S. federal court in 1921."
* inserted by glatt
They try and walk the line between commonality of use and denigration of their trademark. That being said, as a verb, it's lowercase (i.e., not a proper noun).
Grammar Patrol....AWAYYYY!!!! <whooshing of cape as I run down the cube alley>
Pardon my ignorance, but in Kingpin when they said "you don't wanna get Munsoned out there" or in Married With Children when they said "hey man, don't Bundy that book" - you're saying that would properly be "munsoned" and "bundy" ???
I generally don't appreciate it when English usage falls into the "noun as verb" routine. Where I work we "partner" with stakeholders. Much of this change came out of corporate America as companies strove to sound new and innovative. Think glossy brocure or employee pep rally. But there are some phrases that should just be banned:
Any version of "thinking outside of the box." A most egregious use of this is when people say "think out of the box" which sounds to me that the person's thoughts are pre-esembled and ready to be expressed as soon as they come out of a box, so it's sounds opposite of what it should mean.
Recently, "step up," "stepping up," or "stepping up to the plate" is out of control. They even have a movie called "Step Up"
I will scream if I hear (like I did this morning on the radio) anyone referring to "taking it to the next level." Of all the stupid catch phrases, this is the worst and most overly used.
Can you guys think of any more?
What about verbs used as nouns and adjectives, as in, "Fuck you, you fucking fuck"?
Ahhhh, fuck, the most durable and effective word we have.
"You fuckers are fucking fucked." The possiblilities seem endless.:)
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckkity fuck."
Tell that to Aspirin.
I'm gonna google that tale on Dogpile.