It should be noted that most of these words are used only informally, and some only by the older generation. Most of them have formal equivalents (e.g. “bricheta” insted of “bic” for lighers)
Thermos – Termos – Thermos
Interphone – Interfon – InterPhone
Fridge – Fridger – Frigidaire
Champagne – Sampanie – Champagne
Aspirin – Aspirin – Aspirin
Hmmmmm 🤨
Maybe some words shouldn’t be on this list.
I’m from Czech Republic and most of this list fits even for us. I had no idea some of those names were actual brand names at first, like Foen/hair drier, “fén” in Czech, my mind has been blown 😀
For example we called running shoes “Botasky” after Czech Botas brand, not Adidas.
In Germany, when a brand becomes synonymous with a certain product the brand name can become a generic term legally. That happened to Temporary for example.
In Estonian word for shaving blades is “zilett”, derived from brand “Gillette” (and I guess many other languages have too Gillette-based word for that).
Maybe Feon (and Foen) might have something to do with Foehn (Föhn) wind, which is warm and dry kind of wind. Maybe?
Forgot the most iconic one:
The chainsaw! Should be called motofierăstrău. We call it drujbă, from the Soviet brand of Druzhba chainsaws.
No word for a vacuum cleaner? That’s surprising, everybody here says “lux”.
So what did people call all these things during Communist times? Did you just not have them?
During the communism we had Vero, which I assume was the same as your Dero, and nowadays we call all detergents for dishwashing vero.
Edit: Dero is powder, and Vero is liquid, just checked that in Google images.
Also *pampers* is common as well, but it’s not an official word.
Tbh most countries use popular brand names over the product name like Coca Cola for colas or PlayStation for game consoles, Pampers for diapers etc… but I guess Romania took that too seriously 😂
Can confirm Xerox, Vaseline, Leukoplast, Jeep, Nescafe (Nes) are also common in Bulgaria.
We also use Hilti for jackhammer, Gedore for the tools, Styropor for polystyrene, Tixo for adhesive tape, Fadroma for a loader, Zeiss ( Tsaissi ) for dioptric glasses
“Champagne” is not a brand and is the exact same word in French, English, German and Serbian
door lock = iala = Yale locks
Although nobody calls all facecreams nivea. Nivea is a popular face cream but that’s it.
Champagne isn’t a brand, it’s a region in France lol
No Kleenex for tissue?
I guess lots of counties have those!
Even in younger generations in PT use: aspirin, vaselin, teflon, jeep, rímel, termos, gillete, etc
Wow, it almost fits to Azerbaijani. We have also _tefal_ which means _kettle_
Pampers*
Champagne isn’t a commercial brand
Jeep is wrong, it should be the other way around. The brand is most likely named after the type of car. The term jeep has been around since World War 1, far longer than the brand. And I believe the term is in use in most European languages.
Yala -> Yale
Champaggne is not a brand
in Georgia we have Xeroxi, Feni, Pampersi, Vazelini, Skotchi, LeikoPlasteri, Shampaniuri and Jeepi. i is nominative case ending in Georgian.
In Bulgaria, most people call the hammer drill – Hilti.
Memory foam = Tempur
This applies all to Italian as well, and probably to most European languages
As a French, I find it infuriating that Champagne is labelled as a brand.
Now do one with all the words that came from Bulgarian. Including the word for “Yes”.
Jeep is definetley a thing, as we saw lots of jeeps during and after ww2, and it was only 4×4 vehicle in that size and that time used only to transport passengers.
32 comments
It should be noted that most of these words are used only informally, and some only by the older generation. Most of them have formal equivalents (e.g. “bricheta” insted of “bic” for lighers)
Thermos – Termos – Thermos
Interphone – Interfon – InterPhone
Fridge – Fridger – Frigidaire
Champagne – Sampanie – Champagne
Aspirin – Aspirin – Aspirin
Hmmmmm 🤨
Maybe some words shouldn’t be on this list.
I’m from Czech Republic and most of this list fits even for us. I had no idea some of those names were actual brand names at first, like Foen/hair drier, “fén” in Czech, my mind has been blown 😀
For example we called running shoes “Botasky” after Czech Botas brand, not Adidas.
In Germany, when a brand becomes synonymous with a certain product the brand name can become a generic term legally. That happened to Temporary for example.
In Estonian word for shaving blades is “zilett”, derived from brand “Gillette” (and I guess many other languages have too Gillette-based word for that).
Maybe Feon (and Foen) might have something to do with Foehn (Föhn) wind, which is warm and dry kind of wind. Maybe?
Forgot the most iconic one:
The chainsaw! Should be called motofierăstrău. We call it drujbă, from the Soviet brand of Druzhba chainsaws.
No word for a vacuum cleaner? That’s surprising, everybody here says “lux”.
So what did people call all these things during Communist times? Did you just not have them?
During the communism we had Vero, which I assume was the same as your Dero, and nowadays we call all detergents for dishwashing vero.
Edit: Dero is powder, and Vero is liquid, just checked that in Google images.
Some cognates in Estonian:
– *aspiriin*
– *föön*
– *vaseliin*
– *plaaster*
– *teflon*
– *džiip*
– *termos*
Also *pampers* is common as well, but it’s not an official word.
Tbh most countries use popular brand names over the product name like Coca Cola for colas or PlayStation for game consoles, Pampers for diapers etc… but I guess Romania took that too seriously 😂
Can confirm Xerox, Vaseline, Leukoplast, Jeep, Nescafe (Nes) are also common in Bulgaria.
We also use Hilti for jackhammer, Gedore for the tools, Styropor for polystyrene, Tixo for adhesive tape, Fadroma for a loader, Zeiss ( Tsaissi ) for dioptric glasses
“Champagne” is not a brand and is the exact same word in French, English, German and Serbian
door lock = iala = Yale locks
Although nobody calls all facecreams nivea. Nivea is a popular face cream but that’s it.
Champagne isn’t a brand, it’s a region in France lol
No Kleenex for tissue?
I guess lots of counties have those!
Even in younger generations in PT use: aspirin, vaselin, teflon, jeep, rímel, termos, gillete, etc
Wow, it almost fits to Azerbaijani. We have also _tefal_ which means _kettle_
Pampers*
Champagne isn’t a commercial brand
Jeep is wrong, it should be the other way around. The brand is most likely named after the type of car. The term jeep has been around since World War 1, far longer than the brand. And I believe the term is in use in most European languages.
Yala -> Yale
Champaggne is not a brand
in Georgia we have Xeroxi, Feni, Pampersi, Vazelini, Skotchi, LeikoPlasteri, Shampaniuri and Jeepi. i is nominative case ending in Georgian.
In Bulgaria, most people call the hammer drill – Hilti.
Memory foam = Tempur
This applies all to Italian as well, and probably to most European languages
As a French, I find it infuriating that Champagne is labelled as a brand.
Now do one with all the words that came from Bulgarian. Including the word for “Yes”.
Jeep is definetley a thing, as we saw lots of jeeps during and after ww2, and it was only 4×4 vehicle in that size and that time used only to transport passengers.
Hello, can i use ur petroleum jelly?