I'm eleven hundred and twenty years old! Just gimme a friggin' beer!

Anya ,'Storyteller'


All Ogle, No Cash -- It's Not Just Annoying, It's Un-American

Discussion of episodes currently airing in Un-American locations (anything that's aired in Australia is fair game), as well as anything else the Un-Americans feel like talking about or we feel like asking them. Please use the show discussion threads for any current-season discussion.

Add yourself to the Buffista map while you're here by updating your profile.


bon bon - Dec 12, 2002 7:06:41 am PST #814 of 9843
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.

Xerox would NOT be happy to hear you claiming they've been genericized.


Am-Chau Yarkona - Dec 12, 2002 7:11:21 am PST #815 of 9843
I bop to Wittgenstein. -- Nutty

like xerox and kleenex.

Now, they haven't been genericized in Britian (typing 'over here' doesn't actually help much, Am-Chau!) but other things have. Do you know what a hoover is?


billytea - Dec 12, 2002 7:27:36 am PST #816 of 9843
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

So I looked up 'skivvy' on M-W, to see which option they would list. Their choice? Neither:

Main Entry: skiv·vy
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: circa 1902
British : a female domestic servant


Am-Chau Yarkona - Dec 12, 2002 7:32:56 am PST #817 of 9843
I bop to Wittgenstein. -- Nutty

Well, billytea, my Concise Oxford agrees with you, and the others too:

skivvy n. 1 (colloq., derog.) Female domestic servant. 2. Thin-high necked long-sleeved garment (in pl., underwear of vest and underpants). [20th cent. origin unknown.]


Am-Chau Yarkona - Dec 12, 2002 7:40:06 am PST #818 of 9843
I bop to Wittgenstein. -- Nutty

but the darling Cassel Dictionary of Slang (Green), offers these options:

skivvies, pl. n. 1. men's underwear, esp. underpants 2. a vest, esp. in the forn of a skivvy shirt 3. a pair of light slippers [ety. unknown (3) ? link to skivvy, n, i.e. typical Japanese footwear]

skivvy, n. [late 19th cent.] a derog. term for a Japanese person [presumably var. on skibby, n., although citations put dates at variance]

skivvy n., [20th cent.] maid of all work [? slavey, see also ety. for skibby]

So there you have it. Well, more of it, anyway.


DXMachina - Dec 12, 2002 7:56:28 am PST #819 of 9843
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.

Xerox would NOT be happy to hear you claiming they've been genericized.

I know they fight vigorously to maintain their trademark, but in practice, a helluva lot of people have used their name generically for a long time.


Sophia Brooks - Dec 12, 2002 8:10:40 am PST #820 of 9843
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here

Well, we have a Sharp copier, but I "xerox" on it, not "sharp"


Am-Chau Yarkona - Dec 12, 2002 8:15:13 am PST #821 of 9843
I bop to Wittgenstein. -- Nutty

And in England, mostly we 'photocopy'. Which sounds much less exciting.


CaBil - Dec 12, 2002 9:34:20 am PST #822 of 9843
Remember, remember/the fifth of November/the Gunpowder Treason and Plot/I see no reason/Why Gunpowder Treason/Should ever be forgot.

I know they fight vigorously to maintain their trademark, but in practice, a helluva lot of people have used their name generically for a long time.

I suspect their lawyers hate it, but their management loves it. I mean, no one say "Ricoh me a copy"

Xerox needs to hold onto the mass copier position, since all of their attempts to branch out have not done well.


billytea - Dec 12, 2002 9:36:08 am PST #823 of 9843
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

Xerox needs to hold onto the mass copier position, since all of their attempts to branch out have not done well.

Hee. Must drive 'em nuts, finding it so hard to replicate their successes. Oh, the irony.