“Tixo” for your usual small transparent household adhesive tape.
As a kid, I wasn’t even aware it was a brand name. Just thought that’s what the thing was called, because no one calls it anything else here. And I only realised as a teen, because I talked with some Germans who called it “Tesafilm” instead, and neither of us had any clue what the other meant.
Edit: Judging from the responses, every single country seems to have their own variation of this, lol.
Kispo (an old Portuguese brand I don’t even remember) for a puffy rain coat.
Uber for any rideshare that’s not a taxi.
123 for an electric meat mincer after what I’m not sure was a model by Moulinex or just a slogan used in their adverts.
Then there’s the obvious ones like Jeep, Maizena, Pyrex, etc, that are used in loads of other countries. And there’s probably a few more unique to Portugal that I don’t remember right now.
Kaladont for any toothpaste, Vileda for any sponge cloth, Jacuzzi for any hot tub, Margo for any spreadable margarine, Labello for any lip balm, Knauf for drywall, Hansaplast for any plaster, nutella for any chocolate spread, Kraš express for any instant cocoa drink, čokolino for any instant baby food, cedevita for any instant soft drink
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“Tixo” for your usual small transparent household adhesive tape.
As a kid, I wasn’t even aware it was a brand name. Just thought that’s what the thing was called, because no one calls it anything else here. And I only realised as a teen, because I talked with some Germans who called it “Tesafilm” instead, and neither of us had any clue what the other meant.
Edit: Judging from the responses, every single country seems to have their own variation of this, lol.
“Sportex” for athletic shoes
“Mickey Mouse” for any kind of comic series or animated show for kids
Saxophone Adolphe Sax
Kleenex, for paper tissue; “tiritas” for adhesive bandages; “gominolas” for gummies; “fixo” or “tesafilm” for adhesive tape, etc.
Apart from the more internationally common:
“Kliko” as a name for a garbage bin.
“Bahco” for an adjustable spanner.
“Inbus” for a hex key.
“Luxaflex” for window blinds
“Vlizotrap” for an attic ladder
Vaseline is synonymous with petroleum jelly in Turkey, and Orkid (Turkish brand name for always) is with hygienic pads.
Hoover for vacuum cleaner
JCB for what Americans call a backhoe
Bic for a pen
Kodak for a camera (but fading away)
Imbus for hex keys
Cutter knife for the break away knives
There is one word that surprised me when I learnt about its etymology and it’s “rower” (bike).
Apparently it comes from the British company Rover, which used to produce bikes before switching to cars.
There were also other names for bikes in Poland, but “rower” is the only one that survived to this day.
Stanley for a breakknife
Clark for a forklift
Isomo for styrofoam
Dixi for mobile toilets
Rimmel for mascara.
Edit: Originally wrote “eyeliner”.
Black & Decker for a power drill.
Kispo (an old Portuguese brand I don’t even remember) for a puffy rain coat.
Uber for any rideshare that’s not a taxi.
123 for an electric meat mincer after what I’m not sure was a model by Moulinex or just a slogan used in their adverts.
Then there’s the obvious ones like Jeep, Maizena, Pyrex, etc, that are used in loads of other countries. And there’s probably a few more unique to Portugal that I don’t remember right now.
“Tatra” for truck, since Tatra is (or at least was) most common truck
“Paralen” for any paracetamol based drug
Food related
“Masox” for any instant broth, less common
“Pikao” for any condensed milk based sweet in tube
“Granko” for any powdered cocoa
“Maggi” for liquid food flavoring
From construction
“Jekl” or “Jäkl” for rectangular section steel beams
“Bochemit” for any chemical used to prorect wood
“Greywall” for any expanded polystyrene insulation with added graphite
“Mamut” for any glue based on modified silyl polymers
Heroin – diacetylmorphine
Tesa – transparent sticky tape
Teflon – Polytetrafluoroethylene
Fön – hairdryer
Kärcher – Pressure washer
Flex – angle grinder
Aspirin – acetylsalicylic acid
Reißwolf – paper shredder
Lypsyl (lypsyl, that’s just what it is) , Topz (cottonsticks)
Adidasy – we call that any brand od sports shoes , so it’s possible to call Nike shoes „Adidasy”.
Dzsip (Jeep)-off road car
Rotring-mechanical pencil
Kuka-trashbin (German KUKA made the first trash collector cars in Budapest, even most Hungarians are unaware that the word derivef from a brand)
Mirelit-frozen food
Fidzsider, frigó-fridge
Matchbox-small toy car
Zsilett(penge)-razor blade
Very well known cases of this in Czechia are
Okena for window cleaner.
Taytos for crisps
xerox – photocopy
aspirină – acetylsalicylic acid
adidași – sneakers / tennis shoes
rimel – eye mascara
scoci – transparent adhesive tape
“Superge” for sneakers, named after the italian Super G sneakers
Selotejp – Sellotape – I guess no one knows that actually was a brand name. ( self adhesive tape).
Kalodont – for tooth paste, it’s a brand name all the way from Austrian empire. ( it’s produced still in Croatia).
Vegeta – a brand of dried food condiments, used irregardles of the brand.
Hanzaplast – Hansaplast – used for every medical tape or “flaster” ( from “plaster?)
Čarli – Charlie – a brand name washing liquid used for every dish washing liquid.
Rimel – Rimmel – UK brand – used as a synonym for eye “masquara” .
Vim – any powder used for kitchen cleaning – originally a brand from Germany.
Vazelin – Vaseline – was actually a us brand name of
petroleum jelly
Vix – another US brand name – usually used for nasal ointment sticks of any brand or kind.
Labello – used for any lip ointment, especially in stick. ( So you’ll hear sentences like “I have a labello from L’Occitane”… or sth. )
In Croatia
Kaladont for any toothpaste, Vileda for any sponge cloth, Jacuzzi for any hot tub, Margo for any spreadable margarine, Labello for any lip balm, Knauf for drywall, Hansaplast for any plaster, nutella for any chocolate spread, Kraš express for any instant cocoa drink, čokolino for any instant baby food, cedevita for any instant soft drink
Jacuzzi and jet ski are ones that come to mind that I haven’t seen mentioned yet.
Umbrakonøgler: hex keys
Stanleykniv: utility knife
Vita Wrap: cling film
Stanniol: tinfoil
Tena: hygiene pafs
Vaseline: petroleum jelly
Panodil: All kinds of paracetamol
Ipren: All kinds of ibuprofen
Jacuzzi: bubble baths
In Ireland:
Biro for a ballpoint pen, especially an inexpensive one.
Hoover for a vacuum cleaner. “My mother bought one of those new Dyson Hoovers last week.”
Sellotape for sticky tape.
Vaseline for petroleum jelly.
Windolene for glass cleaning liquid.
Velux for windows installed in an attic.
Tippex for white correction fluid.
Post-its for removable sticky notes.