Brad,

Thank you for an interesting contribution to the discussion.

Herb

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brad Johnston
Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 3:07 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Listservs? (Was: Traffic Surge)

This is a very common language process as evidenced by the fact that words like escalator, zipper, yo yo, aspirin, and many more used to be trademarked terms. (There is a legal process that acknowledges the generic use of trademarked terms and actually dissolves the trademark, which is why many trademark holders are passionate about branding!)

John,

This may be more than tangential but note that "yoyo" has, or at least did have, special meaning to forces under siege, who have asked for reinforcements but whose request, however urgent and for whatever reason, cannot by fulfilled. The message back will simply be "YOYO', which everyone on both ends knows means, "we are trying our best to send help but at the moment we cannot, so "you're on your own".

Even more remote, during the last days of the siege of Dien Bien Phu in French Indo-China in 1954, French paratroops dropped from as low as 300 feet to try to reinforce the garrison, even though it was clearly a lost cause. Their chutes barely opened before they hit the ground, but the lack of altitude made less of a target for enemy gunners. All perished.

A mere decade later, the USA would begin to prove that it was a lesson we did not learn.

.brad.01sep10.

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