Google fears getting kleenex’ed…and the pajamahadeen goes nuts!
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/do-you-google.html
The article begins harmlessly enough: "Q: What do zippers, baby oil, brassieres and trampolines have in common? A: No, the answer isn't that they're all part of the setup for a highly inappropriate joke. In fact, the above list (along with thermos, cellophane, escalator, elevator, dry ice and many more) are all words that fell victim to those products' very success and, as they became more and more popular, slipped from trademarked status into common usage." And then the blogisphere went into a tizzy.
Basically, Google wants to be sure that the now commonly accepted verb "google" actually means "Looked up on Google.com". Which SOUNDS reasonable to me. But then you read the whole article (I won't repost the whole thing, it's a little too "marketer-y" for me) and look at the trackbacks and it really makes you see how some people will get bitter about ANYTHING. (There's a lot of anger and angst out there in the blogisphere… but that's another story.) I give you as evidence:
Now, I've picked some of the less angsty and somewhat more reasonable, but still… it amazes me when people say things like, "You cannot win this battle, or even affect its outcome. Don't look foolish trying." Here: 1) They are legally bound to try. 2) They have a right to try and a responsibility to their shareholders. 3) If your name was being genericized, you'd fight it as well. But none of those are even really important.
The most important issue, is ours. We as users of the language should fight the urge to dilute the language. "Googling" means looking up something on Google. Which in turn assures the listener/reader that one of the most comprehensive and highest quality search engines was used to perform the research. (No, I'm not a Google shill, though Sergey and Larry, you can send me a check whenever…). If I searched for something on Joe-Bob.com, and then told you I googled it, you wouldn't have an accurate idea of how comprehensive my research was. To borrow a phrase from someone who talks too damn much sometimes, "Words mean things", and you can't just decide to appropriate one for your own purposes.
In fact, I think the use of the term "Google" in place of a generic search is a sign of ignorance. The first several times I heard it used incorrectly it came from people who didn't know any better. It's like hearing an old white guy talking about how they are "Hip to that jive", it just doesn't fit. It's important that we not use specific terms when general ones apply just to sound with it.
Personally, I use the term "Googling" a good bit, but for me, it always means "Look something up on Google." As a side note, I also use the verb "to wiki" to indicate "look something up on Wikipedia." I need a better verb, because I suppose "to wiki" could mean to add something to any generic wiki. "Where's the user docs for that software?" "I wiki'd them." "Gotcha."
Anyway it might be worth a whole blog post to think about other tech words that have been appropriated as verbs or general terms. Regardlss, let's keep Googling on Google and do our little part to keep the language semantically stable, shall we?
Enhance your calm, pajama-bloggers. Enhance your calm.
By the way: pajamahadeen.
_b
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