Calling a Roadster a "Tesla"

[AnOutsider]

Nooooice.


I have a quick offtopic gripe though. A lot of people keep saying "Tesla". "I just got my Tesla", "I took my Tesla for a ride"... shouldn't it be Roadster? I mean sure the Model S isn't out yet, but when it IS there's gonna be some confusion.

No one says I took my Volkswagen out today on a VW forum

 

[Kevin Harney]

Don't we say Kleenex when we mean tissue? And Xerox when we mean copy ? I am sure there are many more ... Coke when we mean soda or Pepsi ...

 

[TEG]

Sometimes tradenames get lost into generic terminology like Bayer's Aspirin.
(Actually I think if you capitalize it then it is a tradename, but if lower case it is generic).

 

[graham]

I am not overly worried about confusion. People will begin using the correct terminology as other models get closer to reality.

People called the DMC-12 the DeLorean. The Tucker 'Torpedo' sedan was just as frequently called the "Tucker" and probably many other small automotive companies just known by their name until there were more models to confuse the issue.

Eventually, the "Tesla" we know today or the "Roadster" as it is supposed to be called, may eventually be known as the "Roadster Mark 1" or the "Lithium Roadster" or something as future revisions of that model occur.

 

[vfx]

I am not overly worried about confusion. People will begin using the correct terminology as other models get closer to reality.

People called the DMC-12 the DeLorean. The Tucker 'Torpedo' sedan was just as frequently called the "Tucker" and probably many other small automotive companies just known by their name until there were more models to confuse the issue.

Eventually, the "Tesla" we know today or the "Roadster" as it is supposed to be called, may eventually be known as the "Roadster Mark 1" or the "Lithium Roadster" or something as future revisions of that model occur.

I agree and would point out that we have all been calling the Roadster the a Tesla up to the time of the Model S announcements became serious.
Figure we here are about 6 months to a year ahead on the knowledge curve compared to the public and 1 to 3 months ahead of the mainstream press. They will all catch up and we will have something else to whine about.

"Just about the time you are sick of hearing a song is when the listeners begin to know it exists."
-My Community College Radio teacher, a 15 year Top-40 veteran

 

[vfx]

I agree and would point out that we have all been calling the Roadster the a Tesla up to the time of the Model S announcements became serious.
Figure we here are about 6 months to a year ahead on the knowledge curve compared to the public and 1 to 3 months ahead of the mainstream press. They will all catch up and we will have something else to whine about.

"Just about the time you are sick of hearing a song is when the listeners begin to know it exists."
-My Community College Radio teacher, a 15 year Top-40 veteran

 

[AnOutsider]

quoting yourself for emphasis vfx?

And all good points, but as I said, we are at the point where Tesla has more than one model floating about (though one is more or less a prototype at this point). *Shrug* just a gripe of mine.

As for aspirin, people don't say I'm going to take a "Bayer", they say Aspirin, which would be the actual name of the medication you are taking ( I believe Aspirin is no longer trademarked and is a generic name)

 

[TEG]

...( I believe Aspirin is no longer trademarked and is a generic name)

It depends on where you live.

Aspirin: Trademark in most countries

Trademark in most countries As part of war reparations specified in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles following Germany's surrender after World War I, Aspirin (along with Heroin) lost its status as a registered trademark in France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, where it became a generic name and can be spelled in lower case.

Today, "aspirin" is a generic word in Australia, Argentina, Britain, France, India, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa and the United States. Aspirin remains a registered trademark of Bayer in Germany, Canada, Mexico, and in over 80 other countries, where the first letter of its name should be capitalized and used only in reference to and on ASA products manufactured and marketed by Bayer.

Bayer stretched their trademark muscles some years back and I saw some packages in the store change to say things like "generic pain reliever (compare to Aspirin*)"


And don't forget all the fuss to rebrand so called Champagne as "Sparkling Wine".
C-Ville: Features - Virginia's so-called Champagne

...let’s get the lecture over with right at the beginning. Champagne is a place. Wine called Champagne comes from Champagne, or else it’s called something else. In Spain they call it Cava, in Italy Spumante. In Germany it’s Sekt. There is French sparkling wine that isn’t Champagne; they call it Crémant or Mousseaux and it can be wonderful. Almost anywhere that wine is made someone has added bubbles to it, be it red or pink or white, be it sweet or dry. In America we’re stuck with sparkling wine as our nom de fizz, which isn’t very poetic, but will do for now. Just don’t call it Champagne. In the not-so-former-anymore Soviet Union they used to call it Sovetskoye Shampanskoye (I am not making that up). You will still see bottles of California bubbly labeled “California Champagne,” but only those that were grandfathered in before such nominative fraud was made illegal in 2006...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_(wine)

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of the wine to effect carbonation. It is produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France, from which it takes its' name. Through international treaty, national law, most countries limit the use of the term to only those wines that come from the Champagne appellation. In Europe, this principle is enshrined in the European Union by Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. Other countries, such as the United States, have recognized the exclusive nature of this name, yet maintain a legal structure that allows longtime domestic producers of sparkling wine to continue to use the term "Champagne" under specific circumstances. The majority of US produced sparkling wines do not use the term "Champagne" on their labels....

 

[NEWDL]

I always speak of my 2004 MINI Cooper as "my MINI" or "the MINI" There are 9 versions of the MINI. Someone could be confused...but it is life. If they have questions they will ask and I will be more than willing to explain which Tesla I drive or which MINI....

Similarly...

"The Bimmer"

"The Cedes"

"The Jeep"

I hear all of these on a regular basis. Most of the time it stimulates more conversation....never a bad thing...

 

[AnOutsider]

I always speak of my 2004 MINI Cooper as "my MINI" or "the MINI" There are 9 versions of the MINI. Someone could be confused...but it is life. If they have questions they will ask and I will be more than willing to explain which Tesla I drive or which MINI....

Similarly...

"The Bimmer"

"The Cedes"

"The Jeep"

I hear all of these on a regular basis. Most of the time it stimulates more conversation....never a bad thing...

In the way you're using it, that sounds more like when you're talking to people in general conversation. In such cases I also will say "I drove the Audi"... However, if I were on an Audi forum... I think I'd make the model distinction.

Again, not a big deal, just something I noticed and a mod made it into its own thread. People will still say it, and it will still irk me.

 

[DrComputer]

"Honey, can you please grab me a Kleenex. I spilled some Coke on the seat of the Tesla while I was trying to find a place for my Ray Bans while eating a Big Mac. While you're at it can you bring me the Xerox I made of the oweners manual and the Windex so I can also clean the windows while I re-program the Genie to open the gate."

 

[vfx]

"Honey, can you please grab me a Kleenex. I spilled some Coke on the seat of the Tesla while I was trying to find a place for my Ray Bans while eating a Big Mac. While you're at it can you bring me the Xerox I made of the oweners manual and the Windex so I can also clean the windows while I re-program the Genie to open the gate."

And have you seen my Crescent wrench? I think I saw it next to the Tivo. When we finish we can put on our Speedos and take a Jacuzzi.

 

[TEG]

Can't I just Google it on my Blackberry?

 

[AnOutsider]

"Honey, can you please grab me a Kleenex. I spilled some Coke on the seat of the Tesla while I was trying to find a place for my Ray Bans while eating a Big Mac. While you're at it can you bring me the Xerox I made of the oweners manual and the Windex so I can also clean the windows while I re-program the Genie to open the gate."

And have you seen my Crescent wrench? I think I saw it next to the Tivo. When we finish we can put on our Speedos and take a Jacuzzi.

Can't I just Google it on my Blackberry?

Since when does anyone use those words generically? Not in this part of the woods. And again, you're naming specific products instead of the companies that made them. Nice stab at humor though.

*edit* taken from another post on this board:

I have a Tesla as well as a Ford GT. The GT had an issue with bolts as well and Ford took a year to do anything

So he called the Roadster a Tesla, but called his GT the Ford GT instead of the Ford. I bet if the sentence had been reversed he would've said "The roadster had an issue as well and Tesla took..." since saying Tesla twice would just be silly

 

[vfx]

And again, you're naming specific products instead of the companies that made them.

I don't know anyone who says. "Open end adjustable spanner" instead of "Crescent wrench" That company has a lot of products. (too lazy to actually find and insert a link here)

 

[AnOutsider]

Correct, but I didn't bold crescent wrench

 

[TEG]

Since when does anyone use those words generically?

Around here I see it all the time. Someone could say "Google it on your Blackberry" and the other person would pull out their iPhone and fire up Safari.

I hear people say "why don't you TiVo it", and someone goes home and programs their generic cable DVR in response.

They don't even both to correct the fact that they are using a different brand of product with similar functionality.

 

[vfx]

Correct, but I didn't bold crescent wrench

Whoops, sorry. I missed the subtlety.

 

[AnOutsider]

Around here I see it all the time. Someone could say "Google it on your Blackberry" and the other person would pull out their iPhone and fire up Safari.

I hear people say "why don't you TiVo it", and someone goes home and programs their generic cable DVR in response.

True, true fair enough. Around here people just say DVR-it, but I have seen people just say TiVo it

They don't even both to correct the fact that they are using a different brand of product with similar functionality.

yeah, that's what happens when things get into the hands of the masses. Taking this further, I wonder if EVs are one day popular, if people will just start calling all EVs by the brand that first made them popular (Tesla, Aptera, Fisker etc)