What's a stapler called in Korean? 🧐

There is this concept that a product name becomes so tied to its purpose that it becomes "genericized". That is, the brand name becomes synonymous with the product itself. For example, "thermos" was a brand name owned by Thermos GmbH in Germany, but in the states it lost the trademark because it became such a catch-all term. 

There are others that are similarly generic, but still maintain their trademark like "Band-Aid", "Bubble Wrap", and "Post-it".

But have you thought about what the equivalent would be in Korea? 

Let's take a look today at the brand that have transcended their status to become catch-all terms for the things they represent!

호치키스 (Stapler)

This one is from the American brand Hotchkiss, which made staplers since the late 1800s! It made its way over to Japan and Korea, respectively. Where the brand became the de-facto stapler of the time. Since there were no other products, so calling it a 호치키스 just stuck.

Not quite the stapler you were expecting, huh?

매직 (Permanent marker)

You can probably guess that this is coming from "Magic Marker". Around the same time that the Magic Marker was released, a similar product took over in Japan -- the "Magic Ink" marker. So, it naturally spread over to Korea where the "magic" part just stuck and it is what we use nowadays to refer to the permanent marker.

퐁퐁 (Dish soap)

This one came from a Korean brand of dish soap that apparently was so shockingly good that it became uber popular and took over. And from there (and with its incredibly easy to remember name) it just refers to all of the dish soaps nowadays. It is believed that the name 퐁퐁 originally came from the Korean onomatopoeia of the sound of bubbles rising when dissolved in water. Also, you should totally take a look at this 1970s ad for 퐁퐁. (By the way, in some regions in Korea, 퐁퐁 can also mean trampoline!)

대일밴드 (Band-Aid)

Similar to how in the US Band-Aid is actually a brand name that refers to the adhesive bandage used to cover wounds, a similar thing happened over in Korea! 대일밴드 was the brand name of the same thing. If you need a Band-Aid in Korea, you will have a lot better luck saying "대일밴드" than bandaid!

봉고차 (Minivan/Bus)

From school buses for kids to minivans around Korea, they are all called 봉고차 which comes from Kia's van, you guessed it, 봉고! But the 기아 봉고 can also refer to the work truck that is ubiquitous throughout Korea and seen on pretty much every corner multiple times per day.

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