Genericization? Is that even a word? Hm...

There are a number of brand names that have become so big as to be inducted in our language as actual nouns. You know some of them: we use "escalator" for any sort of lifty-staircase-thingy, "Kleenex" for any brand of facial tissue, and quite a few of us (when I was a kid, anyway) use "Coke" to refer to any ol' flavor or brand of soft drink.

I was curious to find out what some of the others might be. Across the pond, "Hoover" is still used as a verb for vacuuming: "I can't hear you--I'm Hoovering!" But what other things might I be saying in common parlance that belong to someone? If you're curious, here's a list from Wikipedia that might satiate your curiosity.

Now I'm going to go take a couple of asprin and call you on my touch-tone phone in the morning. Not to slap a Band Aid on it or anything.