The phrase "generic noun" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in discussions about grammar or linguistics to refer to a noun that represents a general class of objects rather than a specific instance.
Example: "In the sentence 'The dog barked,' 'dog' is a generic noun that refers to any dog, not a specific one."
Alternatives: "common noun" or "general noun".
"MasterCard is a trademark name, which should be followed by a generic noun," Mr. Schwartz says.
The name typically becomes first an adjective, then a noun, then, ideally (if not to the maker), the generic noun: a Maxim gun, a Ford, a hoover.
But Mr. Bata made the company, which was founded by his father, so pervasive in the developing world that, according to Mr. Tenenbaum, Bata became a generic noun for shoe in some parts of it, particularly in Africa.
As the business boys have noted, the value of generic nouns as domain names has plummeted over the past year and what, after all, is a more generic noun, with a wider domain, than God.com?
A best seller Mr. Kramer fell across that laid out the "22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" made it clear that naming a business with a generic noun, a word resistant to easy Google search, spelled commercial doom.
It's such a symbol, in fact, that like Band-aid, Seadoo, Kleenex, and Frisbee, its trademarked name is now a generic noun used to describe any type of similar item.
The generic nouns simply turned out to be too generic.
The menu is half Chinese; the Indian part consists of generic nouns (lobster, crab, prawns, pomfret) and incomprehensible adjectives (hariyaki).
When I complained I was told that "SL" was Linden's trademark and I was allowed to use it only when followed by a space and two generic nouns, such as "SL Art Garden".
This may well explain why its economic gains have been more sustained.FRED ARGYCanberraGenericnouns.comSIR You say that the value of generic nouns as domain names has plummeted over the past year ("The Internet's all-too-common nouns", November 25th).
We put them on our business cards (doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief), we use them for Web sites and Twitter handles (@Dr.WhoOnline) and we let them animate real or made-up epitaphs ("Here lies Dr. Keene, the good Bishop of Chester,/Who ate up a fat goose, but could not digest her").. Some among us use generic nouns when we are grasping for words to say who we are (female, doctor, athlete).
