Each Monday on the Pure Purpose blog, I feature This Week’s 7, a simple list about an everyday topic, giving you ideas and encouragement. If you regularly follow my blog, you might know I like language. As I used a couple words this week, I thought of brand names we now use to generically refer to products, such as Kleenex, Chapstick, and Band-Aids. I dug up a few more for this week’s list. A few might surprise you, or you might have a few to add!

1. TASER. Trademarked by TASER International, it’s an acronym for Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle.
2. Wite-Out. We might think “white out” when we say it, but the correction fluid with the odd spelling was trademarked in 1966. Bic now holds the trademark rights.
3. Velcro.Want to guess the generic name? (You’ll have to look below the list for the answer.)
4. Jell-O. The recipe has been around since 1899! Pearle Wait sold the recipe to Orator Woodward for $450. Three years later, sales were around $250,000. Today, the gelatin dessert is owned by Kraft.
5. Power Point. Does anyone even know any other “presentation graphics program”? Microsoft definitely has the monopoly on this one.
6. Onesies. I’m not sure how parents survived before these one-piece infant bodysuits. You can find them in many stores with many brands, but Gerber holds the trademark.
7. Bubble Wrap. Yes, Bubble Wrap should be capitalized because it’s a trademarked name, owned by the Sealed Air Corporation. Plan ahead to celebrate Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day in January!

Did you guess the answer to number three?

(Hook-and-loop fastener.)