Proprietary epithets: things referred to as brands. OZ Mornings explains.

Did you know that “zamboni” is actually a brand of the machine that cleans an ice rink, and not all of those machines are technically Zambonis? Have you ever asked for a glass of Pepsi when really you just meant whatever soda was on hand? Have you ever added “Band-aids” to your shopping list when any kind of bandage will do? These are all examples of proprietary epithets, which is a word that is used to refer to a group of things when really it is just one kind of those things. A classic NL-centric example is “Ski-Doo” – technically, it is a brand of snow mobile that most people use to refer to all snow-mobiles.

OZFM listeners came up with some other good examples of proprietary epithets. Michelle noted several, such as Thermos, Saran Wrap, and Jell-O. Reta mentioned Jacuzzi and Mike observed that many people grew up calling all forms of diapers “Pampers” which is a brand of diapers.