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Google Enters the Dictionary as a Verb By Robin Arnfield July 7, 2006 1:30PM In its 2005 annual report, Google actually acknowledged the trend to use its company name as a generic verb and warned in the report that its brand might get diluted as a result, potentially affecting the company's bottom line.   Related Topics Merriam-Webster Google Technology Latest News Endeavour Inspected for Damage Autism Risk for Kids of Older Mothers Go Online and You Can Save the Planet In Haiti, Relief Gaps Are Spreading U.S. To Form Climate-Change Agency Merriam-Webster has added the term google to the latest version of its Collegiate Dictionary. The term is one of 100 new words or expressions that made the cut for this update. Not surprisingly, many of the new entries hail from the world of technology. Joining google among Internet-related terms to make it onto the pages of the dictionary for the first time are mouse potato, a pejorative term that describes someone who spends a lot of time at a computer, and ringtone, a word that describes the ubiquitous and often-annoying sounds that signify an incoming call on a mobile phone. Merriam-Webster has posted a sampling of the latest and greatest new expressions in the online version of its dictionary at www.m-w.com. Other newbies include spyware, unibrow, himbo, supersize, drama queen, agritourism, biodiesel, sandwich generation, and manga. Google That But the most prominent entrant -- at least for tech junkies -- is the term google, which has become synonymous with the concept of carrying out a search on the Internet, said Mukul Krishna, a Frost & Sullivan analyst. "People say to each other, 'I googled that restaurant' or 'I googled you.'" One problem with this word trend, said Krishna, is that when people use the term google, they might not necessarily mean that they used the Google search engine. "It may be that they used Yahoo," he observed. "But in everyone's mind, googling has become the generic term. This is good for Google, but it has the downside that its brand might become diluted." Brand Aid Krishna pointed to the battle between Coca-Cola and Pepsi back in the 1960s. "Coca-Cola used to send people to restaurants to ask for a Coke," he said. "Very often, they would be handed a Pepsi because coke had become the generic term for that type of soft drink. So Coca-Cola would then sue the restaurant." Other real-world examples of brand names being used as generic terms include Xerox, Hoover, and Kleenex. In its 2005 annual report, Google actually acknowledged the trend to use its company name as a generic verb and warned in the report that its brand might get diluted as a result, potentially affecting the company's bottom line. The updated print version of the dictionary will be available in bookstores this fall.   Tell Us What You Think Your Comment: Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com Advertisement  Computing 1.   Nvidia Auto-Switches Notebook GPU 2.   MS: Windows 7 Doesn't Hurt Battery 3.   Tips for More Windows 7 Productivity 4.   The Pros and Cons of Apple's iPad 5.   IBM Power7 Server Takes on Big Load EPIC Objects To Google-NSA Ties Cyberattack meant to rattle Google? Average Rating: Symbian 3 Is Now Fully Open Source But mobile OS remains linked to Nokia. Average Rating: Google Attack Highlights Black Market Paying for bug info is hotly debated. Average Rating:

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