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Alternate Terminology: Landships, Farseers, and Localnets

As well as farseers and raycookers, there's another source of alternative names.

I don't know whether this will get covered in your alternate company histories, but another source of technology names is brand names that become so ubiquitous that they're treated as synonymous with the tech itself. Hoover is probably the obvious OTL example, while others have noticed that some people seem to use the term iPhone to describe any and all smartphones. Similarly with iPad and tablet. Sellotape is another one. Kindle, perhaps, too.

So, in another world, could another company be so all pervasive in a certain field to ensure their name becomes (for many) the name of of the kit? Probably only for certain items. It needs to be common. As in "used in nearly every house" common. Any less, and the brand may not enter popular consciousness. Also, it need to be new. It is unlikely that the collective masses will decide to name an electric oven after a market leader, because they've all had ovens already, just powered by other means. Unlikely isn't impossible, but it is still unlikely.

Maybe a brand of fridge? Do we all take the milk out of the smeg in another TL? My thoughts seem to be convinced to the kitchen. Washing machines, tumble dryers and microwaves are other potential things for names. Perhaps cameras?

Putting such terminology in organically can be any issue, mind. Anybody can write that the hero "climbed aboard his autovelo/velocipede and roared off into the night". In other cases, it's sometimes harder to avoid an explanatory footnote.

No TL is likely to have more than one or two of these terms. They're not overly common, but since wisely, they might help add flavour.

I tried this myself, in a previous bit of writing. Given the fact that literally nobody mentioned it, I'm not convinced it was a success. In Let Them Talk, I had a power cut hit a Labour Party Conference. Jim Laurie then went to the piano "under the lights of a thousand Nokias". This seemed to hit the mark. A brand leader who, if they'd played the switch to smartphones better, could have sewn up the market. Might not have replaced "mobile", but it could have done. Obviously, in OTL, they fumbled that move, so well never find out. In an ATL, though?

It's fitting that you've written this article, @Thande, because alternate names is something I always consider to be a particular skill of yours. Another SLP writer who (imho) excels at this is @Mumby, who might recognise two of the examples used in my post. Whether he invented the terms or not, his writing was where I saw them first.
You see the same process with food. For example in the US Jell-O and Popsicle are brand names, but even generic products get called by those names.
 
Nathan-Fillion-Loss-For-Words-Reaction-Gif.gif


You're absolutely right. It's just... I can't... the milk out of...
Yeah. I could say that was unintentional, but I'd be lying.
 
You see the same process with food. For example in the US Jell-O and Popsicle are brand names, but even generic products get called by those names.
Good shout. Scope for alternates there.

I remember a reference to somebody grabbing an own brand Fanta (rather than a cola) as the first realisation that something want quite right in an ATL.
 
As well as farseers and raycookers, there's another source of alternative names.

I don't know whether this will get covered in your alternate company histories, but another source of technology names is brand names that become so ubiquitous that they're treated as synonymous with the tech itself. Hoover is probably the obvious OTL example, while others have noticed that some people seem to use the term iPhone to describe any and all smartphones. Similarly with iPad and tablet. Sellotape is another one. Kindle, perhaps, too. Fitbit?

So, in another world, could another company be so all pervasive in a certain field to ensure their name becomes (for many) the name of of the kit? Probably only for certain items. It needs to be common. As in "used in nearly every house" common. Any less, and the brand may not enter popular consciousness. Also, it need to be new. It is unlikely that the collective masses will decide to name an electric oven after a market leader, because they've all had ovens already, just powered by other means. Unlikely isn't impossible, but it is still unlikely.

Maybe a brand of fridge? Do we all take the milk out of the smeg in another TL? My thoughts seem to be mainly linked to the kitchen. Washing machines, tumble dryers and microwaves are other potential things for names. Perhaps cameras?

Putting such terminology in organically can be an issue, mind. Anybody can write that the hero "climbed aboard his autovelo/velocipede and roared off into the night". In other cases, it's sometimes harder to avoid an explanatory footnote.

No TL is likely to have more than one or two of these terms. They're not overly common, but since wisely, they might help add flavour.

I tried this myself, in a previous bit of writing. Given the fact that literally nobody mentioned it, I'm not convinced it was a success. In Let Them Talk, I had a power cut hit a Labour Party Conference. Jim Laurie then went to the piano "under the lights of a thousand Nokias". This seemed to hit the mark. A brand leader who, if they'd played the switch to smartphones better, could have sewn up the market. Might not have replaced "mobile" or "cell", but it could have done. Obviously, in OTL, they fumbled that move, so well never find out. In an ATL, though?

It's fitting that you've written this article, @Thande, because alternate names is something I always consider to be a particular skill of yours. Another SLP writer who (imho) excels at this is @Mumby, who might recognise two of the examples used in my post. Whether he invented the terms or not, his writing was where I saw them first.
Thanks - I agree that genericised terms like hoover might be a good one for a future article.

An upcoming alt-terminology article actually namechecks @Mumby and his Raycookers (great band).
 
You see the same process with food. For example in the US Jell-O and Popsicle are brand names, but even generic products get called by those names.
One of those cases is also a good example of confusing transatlantic false-friends, in that 'jelly' in the US is or was used to mean something more like jam in the UK, whereas Jell-O specifically meant what we call jelly (ie gelatin based dessert). Similarly how the US uses 'pudding' to mean something much more specific than how in the UK it is often just used to mean 'dessert'.

Popsicle is one that confused me for a while because for years I thought it meant something like a Calippo or Jubbly (i.e. an ice lolly in a pouch you squeeze rather than on a stick), I think because the brand name or a similar one had been briefly tried in the UK but only for one of those. I didn't realise it was just a popular brand of ice lolly in the US that had come to be used as the generic term for ice lolly by many Americans. It took me even longer to find out that the 'actual' American generic term for ice lolly is 'ice pop', which as far as I can tell no real Americans except those who write Wikipedia disambiguation pages seem to use.
 
One of those cases is also a good example of confusing transatlantic false-friends, in that 'jelly' in the US is or was used to mean something more like jam in the UK, whereas Jell-O specifically meant what we call jelly (ie gelatin based dessert). Similarly how the US uses 'pudding' to mean something much more specific than how in the UK it is often just used to mean 'dessert'.

Popsicle is one that confused me for a while because for years I thought it meant something like a Calippo or Jubbly (i.e. an ice lolly in a pouch you squeeze rather than on a stick), I think because the brand name or a similar one had been briefly tried in the UK but only for one of those. I didn't realise it was just a popular brand of ice lolly in the US that had come to be used as the generic term for ice lolly by many Americans. It took me even longer to find out that the 'actual' American generic term for ice lolly is 'ice pop', which as far as I can tell no real Americans except those who write Wikipedia disambiguation pages seem to use.
I can confirm that I've never heard anyone call it an ice pop. Honestly "ice pop" sounds like something an alien trying to infiltrate America would say. "Please, give me an ice pop and a carbonated cola beverage human friend."
 
I can confirm that I've never heard anyone call it an ice pop. Honestly "ice pop" sounds like something an alien trying to infiltrate America would say. "Please, give me an ice pop and a carbonated cola beverage human friend."
Ah, the NYT probably uses it then.

This will inevitably lead on to the famous 'generic terms for soft drink in different parts of America' map and the surprise that we also call it pop in the North of England.
 
Ah, the NYT probably uses it then.

This will inevitably lead on to the famous 'generic terms for soft drink in different parts of America' map and the surprise that we also call it pop in the North of England.
Actually, that's another good example of a brand name becoming a generic. In the South every soda is a Coke. You have Fanta coke, Sprite coke, Root Beer coke, etc. I assume it's because Coca-Cola was originally a Southern thing (it's from Georgia), and it was the most widely available drink (plus people down there are really into regional pride).
 
Actually, that's another good example of a brand name becoming a generic. In the South every soda is a Coke. You have Fanta coke, Sprite coke, Root Beer coke, etc. I assume it's because Coca-Cola was originally a Southern thing (it's from Georgia), and it was the most widely available drink (plus people down there are really into regional pride).

Similar to how in much of the West of Scotland 'ginger' was a generic term meaning all fizzy juice, because the most popular brand was the colour of a radioactive orange.
 
Similar to how in much of the West of Scotland 'ginger' was a generic term meaning all fizzy juice, because the most popular brand was the colour of a radioactive orange.
"Fizzy juice" was a term I'd never heard of until the brother started seeing a girl from Livingston (she was actually Glaswegian, but the family lived in Livingston).
 
"Fizzy juice" was a term I'd never heard of until the brother started seeing a girl from Livingston (she was actually Glaswegian, but the family lived in Livingston).

How does one distinguish between fruit juice, carbonated drinks, and cordials down south?

It's juice, fizzy juice, and diluted juice.
 
Actually, that's another good example of a brand name becoming a generic. In the South every soda is a Coke. You have Fanta coke, Sprite coke, Root Beer coke, etc. I assume it's because Coca-Cola was originally a Southern thing (it's from Georgia), and it was the most widely available drink (plus people down there are really into regional pride).
Yes, I've seen that before.

Where I live 'coke' is used to generically mean all colas, but not all soft drinks. Common conversation on going into a restaurant - "I'll have XYZ and a Coke" "It's Pepsi, is that OK" (slightly surprised that you would bother to ask) "Oh, yes."

On the other point - as with Geordie we would say juice, pop and squash.
 
Yes, I've seen that before.

Where I live 'coke' is used to generically mean all colas, but not all soft drinks. Common conversation on going into a restaurant - "I'll have XYZ and a Coke" "It's Pepsi, is that OK" (slightly surprised that you would bother to ask) "Oh, yes."

On the other point - as with Geordie we would say juice, pop and squash.
It's the same in the non-Southern US. All colas are cokes, but if you ask for a coke and hope to receive a Fanta you'll be disappointed.
 
Yes, I've seen that before.

Where I live 'coke' is used to generically mean all colas, but not all soft drinks. Common conversation on going into a restaurant - "I'll have XYZ and a Coke" "It's Pepsi, is that OK" (slightly surprised that you would bother to ask) "Oh, yes."

On the other point - as with Geordie we would say juice, pop and squash.

That's mostly true of cola drinks up here, all referred to as Coke. No one ever asks for a vodka and cola.

Strangely, I've noticed more and more that people will ask if Pepsi is okay since the sugar tax.
 
That's mostly true of cola drinks up here, all referred to as Coke. No one ever asks for a vodka and cola.

Strangely, I've noticed more and more that people will ask if Pepsi is okay since the sugar tax.
That's probably just because they're used to asking for clarification about whether you mean 'full fat Coke' or 'unleaded Coke' (as my relatives in Canada put it) because the price is now different.
 
That's probably just because they're used to asking for clarification about whether you mean 'full fat Coke' or 'unleaded Coke' (as my relatives in Canada put it) because the price is now different.

I do enjoy that 'full fat coke' is also used down south, it somehow seemed like it would be a Scottish phrase.
 
something like a Calippo or Jubbly (i.e. an ice lolly in a pouch you squeeze rather than on a stick)

We call those otter pops, which is also a semi-genericized trademark.

This has me thinking about how sugar taxes, subsidies, and other laws can change cultures in small and subtle ways - like the fact that many stores in America now carry Mexican Coca-Cola, because it's made with cane sugar rather than the HFCS that's used in domestic Coke.
 
We call those otter pops, which is also a semi-genericized trademark.

This has me thinking about how sugar taxes, subsidies, and other laws can change cultures in small and subtle ways - like the fact that many stores in America now carry Mexican Coca-Cola, because it's made with cane sugar rather than the HFCS that's used in domestic Coke.
I remember a few years ago it being pointed out that the only country which didn't have that most American symbol of American global dominance, Coca-Cola, was...America. (Because the HFCS version is so different, as you say).

Wasn't there also something about there being a version of Coke suitable for a Jewish festival due to dietary laws (I forget the details) which was basically Mexican Coke and non-Jewish Americans were buying it because it's better than the HFCS version?
 
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