What do YOU call it?  

Chapstick and tylonol...those are both good ones.

I work in the health and beauty section of a grocery store and you woudln't believe how many times people using tylonol to refer to any type of pain releiver has caused issues. I will go up to a customer who is looking at the shelves of medicine, searching for something, and ask if i can help them find anything in particular. They will respond that they are looking for "Tylonol" so then i will ppoint out all the differnt types and sizes we have on the shelf, and point out our store brand aecetominiphen as an alternate choice. Then all of a sudden they will spot what they were really looking for and come up with a bottle of advil....Sometimes i just want to try to explain to these people that there is a difference between aspirin (Bayer, etc.), aecetominiphen (Tylonol etc., ibuprofen (Advil etc.) and naproxen sodium (Aleve etc.)....but i realize it would probably be a waste of my breath.

Just makes me feel stupid, as if the customer had said ibuprofen instead, i would have pointed them in the direction of the Advil and others...

Once again, thank you for the insight into your countries ways of doing things. It is very intriguing to learn things such as this. It really makes you realize that no matter where you live, we all have the same problems, issues and quirks.

Colgate for toothpaste...i hadn't heard of that one before. Though myself if i were going to pick a name brand-name to refer to toothpaste, it would probably be crest, as that one is more familiar to me.

OK! So this is how we get the name Sellotape…I always wondered why it was called thus and I thought it was spelt as Cellotape…

I couldn't think of any more

When I was growing up it was Scotch Tape. Name brand. Not so much any more. (I went to school with a kid named Scott Tate, we called him Scotch Tape, as well). Post Its, sticky notes. My gramma drank a non caffeinated beverage instead of coffee. It was always either Postum or Sanka. Ah, the memories. How about Nestea for instant tea?

The UK has pretty different brands for some things than the US.
Sometimes I haven't a clue what the US members are talking about

Yes, i do supose the cultural differences would make this topic a tad difficult for everyone in all the different countries. But i enjoy reading about The different products, and find it amusing that we all have the same language quirks, even though for different products...

OOhhh..i just thought of another one..Saran wrap....any kind of plastic wrap or covering i refer to as saran wrap. (i hope no one mentioned this in latr posts already, or i will feel silly..but i am just getting to reading and responding to them all)

Thanks for sharing. Isn't it crazy how a brand's name can become the common name for an item? I wonder if brands like when this happens, as it is almost like free advertising for them when people use ThEiR name for a product all the time.

LoL...another couple good ones, thermos and jell-o....i use those all the time too. I wonder if it originates because when the product first came out, those brands were the only ones marketing the product?

makes you wonder if the children in future generations will start not understanding what you are talking about if you were to call it a vacuum cleaner..as all they have EVER heard it called is a hoover?

I know, right? When i was on a trip down south and a family friend asked if i would like a coke, i said sure...and when they brought back a glass of soda i tasted it and it was definately not coke! I looked at them and said this taste kinda different..is it a new type of coke or something? They were like no...it's just the store brand cola.

what about it do you not like? when people use the brand names instead? Yes, it can get kind of confusing at times.

It is just interesting to me how these brand-names came into being common usage for the products.