DON’T CALL IT THAT

“Kleenex” is probably the most famous example of a “genericized trademark”—a product so popular that people use the brand name to identify it. Here are some other brand names that have gone generic…and what, technically speaking, you should be calling them.

Epi-Pen. This preloaded syringe, trademarked by Mylan, is a life-saving device that people with severe allergies can carry with them to take in case they are accidentally exposed to a dangerous allergen. The “Epi” is short for the active ingredient, epinephrine, a hormone and neurotransmitter that occurs naturally in the body—where it’s also known as adrenaline.

Aqualung. The very first commercially available piece of scuba gear was an underwater breathing apparatus patented in the 1940s by engineer Emile Gagnan and French naval officer (and future documentary filmmaker) Jacques Cousteau. The duo formed a company called La Spirotechnique to market the “Aqua-Lung,” which is now often called an aqualung, but is also known by its technical name: a “demand valve” or “diving regulator.” (The Jethro Tull song “Aqualung” remains unchanged.)

Freon. The chemical associated with making refrigerators and air conditioners work is the registered commercial property of Chemours, a chemical manufacturer that was spun off from DuPont in 2015. It’s a refrigerant properly known as a chlorofluorocarbon or dichlorodifluromethane.

Dremel. Albert Dremel founded the Dremel Tool Company in Wisconsin in 1932, and it’s now a division of the Bosch Tool Corporation. Dremel found a niche as a manufacturer of a versatile handheld motorized tool that, with a variety of attachments, could drill, grind, polish, carve, engrave, and more. Today it’s commonly referred to as a dremel, but the generic term is “rotary tool.”

Realtor. The terms “real estate agent” and “realtor” are often used interchangeably to describe a person who sells houses or property for a living, but there’s a big difference. Not every real estate agent is a Realtor (note the capital “R”), but every Realtor is a real estate agent. “Realtor” is a trademarked word that can only be applied to members of the National Association of Realtors. When an agent calls themselves a Realtor, it’s supposed to be a guarantee that they’re among the best of the best in their profession.

Zeppelin. A popular form of mass travel until the Hindenburg explosion in 1937 (“Oh, the humanity!”), zeppelins aren’t seen too much anymore, with the exception of the Goodyear Blimp hovering over nationally televised sporting events (and Led Zeppelin on classic rock radio stations). The airborne vehicle gets its name from its inventor, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who patented his designs in Germany in 1895. Only Zeppelin-designed airships are zeppelins. The rest are simply “airships.”

…taller. (The side facing the sun expands the most, making the tip of the tower move 7 inches away from the sun.)

Crock-Pot. “Slow cookers”—portable electric pots that cook food…slowly—have been around for a long time. One of the first was called the Naxon Beanery All-Purpose Cooker, sold in the 1950s by a company called Naxon Utilities. Naxon was bought out by appliance giant Rival in 1970, which rebranded the Beanery as the Crock-Pot. (A “crock” is a pot, so technically, “crock-pot” means “pot-pot.”) The Crock-Pot has been the best-selling slow cooker ever since.

Chyron. Since the mid-1960s, most of the technology that allows TV broadcasts to lay text over moving images has been developed by a New York–based company called the ChyronHego Corporation. Their techniques were so revolutionary and innovative that the words or logos superimposed on the screen came to be known in the industry as chyrons. That’s trademarked. Onscreen graphics should properly be called, well, “onscreen graphics.” People in the TV industry now call words on the screen “lower third,” because that’s where they usually show up on the screen.

GOING IN STYLE

•Looking for an unusual way to travel to the hereafter? Trekkies can rest for eternity in a casket based on the sleek black-and-red “PhotonTorpedo” from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The Federation insignia is mounted on the inside, right above where the body lies.

•KISS is one of the most merchandised bands in rock ’n’ roll history. Probably the weirdest piece of KISS merchandise: the Kiss Kasket. Every inch is covered in images of the members of KISS, along with band logos and other cool stuff like flames and lightning bolts.

•If you’re you a graduate of one of America’s 40 most popular universities, you can show that school pride forever with an officially licensed casket. Among the varieties available—in each school’s official colors, of course—are “forever boxes” representing the University of Georgia, the University of Florida, and Florida State University. (If you’d rather not put such a huge investment—one costs $4,000—into the ground, school-branded urns for cremains are also available.)

Older than you thought? The first known use of “OMG” was in a letter to Winston Churchill—in 1917.