Here in the Quad Cities it's most common to refer to carbonated beverages as pop or maybe soda. But in the southern states you'll get the stink-eye if you don't call it Coke.

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Other every day items are called by a brand name instead of their generic terms. Here's a list that we're all guilty of using:

  • Jet Ski – Kawasaki Heavy Industries' personal watercraft.
  • Bubble Wrap – Trademarked by Sealed Air Corporation.
  • Onesies – Infant bodysuits owned by Gerber Childrenswear.
  • Jacuzzi – A brand of hot tubs, bathtubs, mattresses and toilets.
  • Crock-Pot – Brand name for slow cooker.
  • Seeing Eye Dog – Guide dog trained by Seeing Eye in Morristown, New Jersey.
  • Breathalyzer – Owned by the Indiana University Foundation, originally called the Drunk-O-Meter
  • Zamboni – Ice resurfacer invented by Frank Zamboni.
  • Chapstick – Lip balm produced by Pfizer.
  • Kleenex – Try reminding people that Kleenex are just facial tissues.
  • Ping-Pong – Trademarked in 1901 as table tennis products.
  • Popsicle – Frozen treat that's a registered trademark of Unilever.
  • Q-Tips – Originally called Baby Gays, Unilever owns the cotton swabs.
  • Rollerblades – The only brand of inline skates until the mid-eighties.
  • Scotch Tape – Scotch Magic Tape is only manufactured by 3M in Hutchinson, Minnesota.
  • Sharpie – Permanent marker invented in 1956.
  • Realtor – Realtor trademarked to specifically to separate the National Association of Realtors from most other real estate agents.
  • Tupperware – Brand named after creator Earle Silas Tupper.
  • Velcro – The world's most prominent brand of hook and loop fasteners.
  • Weed Eater – Owned by Husqvarna Outdoor Products.
  • Wite-Out – Correction fluid trademarked by BIC.
  • Band-Aids – Johnson & Johnson created the combination of gauze and adhesive tape.
  • TASER – Trademark of TASER International, stands for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle."
  • X-acto Knife – Hobby knives that started as surgical scalpels.
  • Dumpster – Got it's name from Dempster Brothers Inc.
  • Novocain – Hospira Inc.'s branded Procaine Hydrochloride.
  • Xerox – Name for photocopying that Xerox has been fighting for years.
  • Post-Its – Trademark of 3M, started as Press 'N Peel.
  • Ouija Board – Introduced by Elijah Bond as a practical way to communicate with spirits. Hasbro Inc. owns the trademark now.
  • Plexiglas – The better-known name for acrylic glass or polymethyl methacrylate.
  • Styrofoam – Expanded polystyrene is the generic name for the material that we typically think of as Styrofoam. Trademark of the Dow Chemical Company.
  • Formica – Decorative laminate made by the Diller Corporation.
  • Frisbee, Hula Hoop & Slip'n Slide – Are all owned by WHAM-O.
  • Windbreaker – Jackets made by Celebration Trading Inc.
  • Stetson – Cowboy hats made by the John B. Stetson Company.
  • PowerPoint – Presentation and graphics program developed by Microsoft.
  • GED – Trademarked by the American Council on Education.

Read more at Mental Floss.

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