#noun-verbing

[petermorwood]

And then there's "to google" = looking for info with any search engine, cap-letter Google or not, and "to 'shop" = manipulating an image with any app, not just Photoshop.

IIRC, corporate lawyers from both will send sharp reprimands to any high-profile misuser, though IMO it's the multitudes of low-profile users who do most erosion - little drops of water, little grains of sand, etc., to the extent that printing TradeName™ in full can often look like making a joke.

A few from here:

"sellotape" = any clear sticky tape, whether Sello-, Scotch or whatever;

"biro" = any ballpoint pen, especially cheap ones;

"dictaphone" = any voice-recorder device;

"sticky-backed plastic" = any adhesive plastic sheet. Thanks to the kids' show "Blue Peter" from non-commercial channel BBC (which prohibited even passive advertising of Naming Names) there must be a couple of generations who never knew this stuff was really called Fablon;

And of course "hoover" = any vacuum-cleaner from any manufacturer. (AFAIK this last one has indeed eroded into non-defensible generic.)

"To hoover" was also a verb as far back as when I was barely double-figures old, so +55 years ago.

Over those years I've cleaned floors with a Hoover, an Electrolux, a Vax, a Dyson and a Nilfisk, and though the Nilfisk has lasted longest of all (bought ~1970 *, inherited 2007 and still going strong) those floors have always been hoovered, never nilfisked...

* Mum saw one at an Ideal Home Exhibition and loved it, my sis and I saved our pocket-money, when we reached 50% Dad added the rest, and That Was That.

Mum was really pleased, though guess who got to haul it up and down the many, many stairs of our old house? Builds character, I suppose. Certainly built muscle; Nilfisks are heavy..

*****

Before a trademark can last long enough for erosion there might be Brand Blunder and, since I've been talking about vacuum cleaners...

However, since that ad was UK-only at a time (early 1970s) when "sucks" = "is really bad" hadn't yet crossed the Atlantic, it wasn't such a blunder as the Internet-at-large likes to think.

However the naughtier meaning of "sucks" certainly existed then, at least at my school, along with horror stories of consensual relationships with domestic appliances gone badly wrong. (Not mere urban legend, @dduane saw one For Real during her time as a nurse in New York.)

All of which proves that advertising agencies should have a teenage boy on staff to spot That Sort Of Thing.

Adult comic "Viz" even got an entire long-lasting character out of it.

Don't get it?

"That's a big pear..."

no idea where i was going with this but i abandoned it at the most disconcerting moment possible

[carpetbug]

me and my friends are constantly making she blank on my blank til i blank jokes and i just think chat would love them

she cat(a) on my clysm til i die a slow and painful death

[coquelicoq]

was trying to think of possible names for river's consort brothers who died in childhood and whose names are never given in the narrative and of course they have to fit with the river theme so i was like okay we got river, branch, drift, how about current...stream...float...bob...wait, bob?! <-legit possible name for a raksura but can u imagine. Bob of Indigo Cloud. these are my children Branch, Drift, River, Current, and Bob. bob my son the raksuran consort bob. bob the consort (can he fix it (intercourt diplomacy problem)) bob the consort (yes he can!)

[thana-topsy]

Question: if you could isekai any pre-existing fictional character into Skyrim, who would it be and why?

[word-for-today]

Word for today: risp

To rub together

[disasterbihawkeye]

She mash her hot lips on my ugly john till my frank burns

[ceo-of-pigeon-milk]

She Pacific on my Rim til I

[petrichoremojis]

[ID: a drawing of a person wearing a pink hoodie standing next to a shelf of green rectangles. a sign above the rectangles has several dollar signs. the person is stuffing a rectangle inside of their hoodie pocket, with an arrow pointing to the action. end ID]

[ID: a drawing of two pairs of brown eyes, both with strabismus. the left eyes are facing in the same direction, while the upper right eye is facing towards the outside of the eye and the lower right eye is facing towards the inside of the eye. end ID]

[ID: a drawing of a plain yellow person standing in front of a large frame, which contains a portrait of the person. end ID]

[ID: a drawing of a plain yellow person holding a paintbrush and standing in front of a large frame, which contains a portrait of the person. end ID]

'shoplift', 'strabismus', 'portrait', and 'self-portrait'!! the last of the symbols we've done tonight lol. may make more tonight, may not

[oozeandgoo-art]

inspired by this post

[queerslurheritageposts]

was on a facetime call with my long-distance friend and i was like "what word do you think you say the most on these calls? like on average?" and he thought about it for a while and then said, in such a studious voice, "probably faggot. because it like, always applies to the context."

(needless to say we both laughed about it for HOURS)

universally applicable word faggot

[kirkwallguy]

still can't stop thinking about the fact that they have demigenders in tevinter but if you're in ferelden you're still using medieval euphemisms for being gay. there are some extremely funny situations to put several characters in

[coquelicoq]

something very cute about english is how "audio" and "video" both seem like they could be abbreviations of longer, more technical english words, but in actuality they're just the latin words for "i hear" and "i see"

[dougielombax]

She Walton on my Goggins til I -

*IS IMMEDIATELY AND SWIFTLY OBLITERATED IN A BLAST OF NUCLEAR HELLFIRE ACCOMPANIED BY BEETHOVEN’S 9TH SYMPHONY!!!!!!*

*OBLITERATED*

*oops*

…

[word-for-today]

Word for today: snool

A submissive or cowardly person; to submit tamely

[emilywrites185]

10 Additional Words to Love

Here are ten more words I found to be helpful. May they help or inspire you on your writing adventures!

Abase (Verb)- To lower in esteem, degrade, to humble. To behave in a way that belittles or degrades someone or yourself.

Brazen (Adj)- Bold and without shame. Made of brass.

Chasten (Verb)- To have a restraining or moderating effect on.

Demure (Adj)- Sober or serious in manner. Reserved.

Flair (Noun)- A special or instinctive aptitude or ability for doing something well. Stylish and originality.

Harangue (Noun)- A lengthy and aggressive speech. (Verb)- To lecture someone in an aggressive and critical manner.

Lissome (Adj)- Thin, supple, graceful.

Morass (Noun)- An area of muddy or boggy ground. A complicated or confusion situation.

Opaque (Adj)- Not able to be seen through; not clear or lucid; dense, stupid.

Wily (Adj)- Skilled at gaining an advantage, especially through deceit. Sly, cunning