Word: generic
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...music had its own kind of enforced segregation. The sudden, seismic synthesis of mainstream pop and down-home rhythm and blues was performed by Elvis Presley, who took R&B, fused it with a little country raunch and came up with rock 'n' roll. Even the generic name was a perfect synthesis: black slang, applied to the raucous music and then popularized by a disc jockey...
...dogsled ride in Canada: "That just sleighed me.") He loves to deflate Establishment airs, and once showed up to address a banquet of the Master Tailors' Benevolent Association in a shabby tweed jacket over his proper white tie. "I am often asked if it is because of some generic trait that I stand with my hands behind my back like my father," he told them. "The answer is that we both have the same tailor. He makes the sleeves so tight that we can't get our hands in front...
...dull black, white and olive labeling, bear only the unadorned name of the product-corn flakes, tomato juice, applesauce-in blunt, stencil-like lettering. Yet these no-name groceries have become hot items, and they could herald a change in the way that Americans shop. Reason: prices of the generic-name groceries range 10% to 35% below those of comparable brand-name products, and even undercut Jewel's Cherry Valley and Mary Dunbar house brands by as much...
...labels and its well-known national brands. The food items meet all the minimum Government requirements for quality, and the packages and cans are made and labeled according to specifications laid down by Jewel. The difference is that unlike the major brands, which usually demand top-grade foodstuffs, the generic products are the cheaper, "standard" quality goods. Thus the green peas are more pebble-sized than petit, the rice is not always whole grain, grapefruit sections are broken and peanut butter contains specks of peanut skins...
...protect trademarks clearly endangered by popularity, the owners of such familiar names as Kleenex, Jell-O and even Frisbee constantly monitor newspapers and magazines, television stations and the ads of competitors. They look for any use of their trademarks-say, without capitalization-that implies a wider, generic meaning. Offending writers or editors may get no more than a note or telephone call from the company urging them to avoid future errors. But when a potential rival violates a trademark, the legal battle may be heated...