What is he actually saying?

yeah, wouldn't hold my breath for either of those trademarked words to pop up in dictionaries any time soon.

google, in fact, asked that the verb 'to google' be removed from online wordspy.com dictionary earlier this year. I imagine the OED plays it pretty safe when it comes to this sort of thing, despite the fact this usage (and 'to photoshop') are both pretty common parlance.

I think they've been down this path in the past with things like twink, xerox, sellotape, hoover, etc...

[ external link ]

// I wonder what kind of written sources the OED requires to allow something into usage.

The OED do look at internet usage. I know this because one day after googling my own website address, I found it mentioned in an interesting newsletter on the OED website. My use of the word miserabilistic was cited as an example of a word that is seldom used in printed material, but was being used on the interweb, and there was still a neccessary part of the English language.

[ external link ]

Robyn that's the ultimate in geekchic.

I was going to post about this before actually, but the pisstake website that was created (by someone else) about it is offline. Lemme see what I can dig up. Ahh yes:

-----

AJ Park
Intellectual Property Lawyers and Consultants
Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys

hubris.co.nz

SELLOTAPE (r) Trade Mark

We act for Sellotape New Zealand Limited.

As you may be aware, SELLOTAPE (r) is a registered trade mark in relation to our client's range of adhesive tapes and related stationery products.

The purpose of this letter is to ask for your co-operation to help ensure the SELLOTAPE (r) trade mark is not misused by being used generically.

Our client has noted with some concern that your website refers to the SELLOTAPE (r) trade mark as the generic name for adhesive or sticky tape rather than as the brand name for those products.

A copy of the relebant website page is attached for your information (http://www.hubris.co.nz/journal/2000/august/aug22.html)

Can you please either delete any reference to the SELLOTAPE (r) trademark on your website or at least ensure that the trade mark is used correctly.

The following guidelines will help ensure that proper use of the SELLOTAPE (r) trade mark is maintained:

1. The generic name for the product should always be used in conjunction with the SELLOTAPE (r) trade mark.

Correct: SELLOTAPE (r) adhesive tape or SELLOTAPE (r) tape
Incorrect: sellotape

2. The SELLOTAPE trade mark should always be used in a distinctive form such as: SELLOTAPE (r) or Sellotape (r) or Sellotape (r)

3. Any reference to the SELLOTAPE (r) trade mark should always feature the (r) symbol which signifies that the mark is a registered trade mark. We appreciate your efforts to help ensure that the SELLOTAPE (r) trade mark is used correctly and look forward to receiving confirmation that you have amended your website.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Yours faithfully

----

I got one of the first letters that I know about, but there were a whole bunch sent out later to other people. When I wrote them back they said that they had to show evidence of having to try to defend their brand in order to maintain patent or something like that.

brilliant! haha.

I wonder if they Google™d to hunt down the offenders?

try: Googol

I'm interested to note that if you google something like "google sucks" or "google is bad" you come back with plenty of hits. I remember a big email of criticisms that got forwarded around by one of the indymedia cells after their news site got ditched from google's news feed. Hmm...

// the indymedia cells after their news site got ditched from google's news feed. Hmm...

yeah, probably fair enough though. a lot of the indymedia 'news' is un-edited straight-from-the-mouth of activists rants that you'd kinda struggle to justify as valid news. I think google was just tightening up it's quality control a bit, and indymedia was an unfortunate victim of its own 'voice-for-the-people' policies.

having said that, the new(ish) google definitions service could do with a similar cull. check out one of their returned definitions of 'gay'...

"To some the ultimate form of male bonding, to others the ulitmate in mal-bonding." [sic]
..which is pulled from...
'The Politically Incorrect Dictionary for the 90s'

[ external link ]

//try: Googol

Ok, did anyone see that programme where the ex-Army British guy cheated on who wants to be a millionaire? He had a mate in the audience who coughed incredibly obviously all the time. Anyway, the very last question was "What number contains one hundred zeros?" I mean, come on, any self-respecting primary school kid knows that! It's the cool fact that you take home and ask your parents just to make them squirm and you feel smart.