If you still refer to things using these 7 brand names, you're absolutely a Boomer

My sister sent me a text last week asking if I could pick up some Kleenex and Chapstick for her on my way over. Without thinking, I grabbed a box of Puffs and some Burt's Bees.

When I got to her place in Austin, she laughed. "I said Kleenex, not Puffs."

"Same thing," I told her.

"Not to Mom," she said.

And she was right. Our parents, who grew up in Boston in the sixties and seventies, have a very specific vocabulary when it comes to everyday products. They don't ask for facial tissue. They ask for Kleenex. They don't inline skate. They Rollerblade. And if you need to fix a typo on paper, you better believe they're reaching for the Wite-Out.

These brand names became so dominant in their categories that an entire generation stopped distinguishing between the brand and the product itself. It's called genericization, and it's both a marketing triumph and a linguistic time stamp.

If you still use these terms exclusively, chances are you learned them from someone who came of age when these brands ruled the market without competition.

Here are seven brand names that immediately mark you as a Boomer when you use them as generic terms.

1) Kleenex

This is probably the most famous example of a brand name replacing the actual product name in everyday speech.

Kleenex, a trademark of Kimberly-Clark, was originally marketed as a makeup remover in the 1920s. When customers started using the tissues to blow their noses instead, the company pivoted. The brand became so ubiquitous that most Boomers will ask for a Kleenex even when they're staring at a box of generic tissues.

Younger generations tend to just say "tissue" or specify the actual brand they want. But for Boomers, every tissue is a Kleenex, regardless of what the box says.

The company has fought hard to keep its trademark from becoming fully generic, running campaigns to remind people that Kleenex is a brand name, not a product category. Still, the habit persists among those who grew up when Kleenex had virtually no competition in the facial tissue market.

2) Xerox

If you've ever heard someone say "I need to Xerox this document," you've encountered peak Boomer vocabulary.

The Xerox Corporation revolutionized office work in 1959 with the Xerox 914, the first plain paper photocopier. The machine was so dominant that making copies became synonymous with the brand name. People didn't photocopy things. They Xeroxed them.

I saw this firsthand during my years working in luxury hospitality. The older managers and executives would always say they needed to "Xerox" something, while the younger staff just said "copy" or "photocopy." It was a reliable generational marker.

Xerox has spent decades trying to stop this usage, even running ads in the 1970s with headlines like "When you use xerox the way you use aspirin, we get a headache." The company wants people to use Xerox as an adjective, not a verb. But old habits die hard, especially for a generation that used Xerox machines exclusively for most of their working lives.

3) Rollerblades

Ask a Boomer what someone does when they strap wheels to their feet in a straight line, and they'll tell you the person is Rollerblading.

Ask someone younger, and they'll say inline skating.

Rollerblade is actually a registered trademark owned by the Nordica sports company. The brand became so popular in the 1980s that it replaced the generic term for the activity in everyday speech. Two Minnesota hockey players created the modern inline skate design in 1980, and the Rollerblade brand took off among athletes and recreational users.

The company has actively fought to keep its trademark from becoming generic, filing lawsuits against competitors and running campaigns to stress the brand name. But Boomers who came of age when Rollerblade was essentially the only game in town still use the term universally.

It's similar to how some people call all adhesive bandages Band-Aids. The brand was so dominant during their formative years that the distinction between brand and product never really registered.

4) Wite-Out

This one instantly ages you because the product itself is nearly obsolete.

Wite-Out is BIC's brand of correction fluid, that white liquid you'd brush over typos on typed or written documents. Before computers made editing seamless, Wite-Out was essential office equipment. Boomers grew up using it constantly, which is why many still refer to any correction fluid as Wite-Out, regardless of the actual brand.

The exact ingredients of Wite-Out remain confidential, which adds to the brand's mystique. But the reality is that most people under forty have barely used correction fluid at all. They grew up with delete keys and backspace buttons.

When a Boomer mentions Wite-Out, they're revealing not just their vocabulary but their relationship with technology. It marks them as someone whose formative work years happened on typewriters and early word processors, when mistakes on paper required physical correction.

5) Chapstick

If someone asks you for Chapstick, they probably learned the term decades ago.

Chapstick, owned by various companies over the years, became the dominant brand of lip balm in the mid-twentieth century. A pharmacist named Charles Fleet created the original formula in the 1890s, but it was John Morton and his wife who made it practical and popular in 1912.

The brand became so ubiquitous that Boomers stopped distinguishing between Chapstick and lip balm. They'd use the brand name for Burt's Bees, Carmex, or any other product designed to moisturize lips.

Younger generations are more likely to use the generic term "lip balm" or specify the exact brand they want. But for Boomers who grew up when Chapstick was virtually the only option on drugstore shelves, the habit of using the brand name generically is deeply ingrained.

It's worth noting that some people joke about being "addicted to Chapstick," and there are actually websites dedicated to helping people break the habit of constant lip balm use. The brand recognition is that strong.

6) Q-tips

Here's one that even some younger people still use, though it's becoming less common.

Q-tips are cotton swabs manufactured by Unilever. The Q stands for quality, and the product has been around since 1926. Originally called Baby Gays (a name that aged poorly), the brand became so successful that many people use Q-tips as a generic term for all cotton swabs.

Boomers almost exclusively use this term. If they need a cotton swab, they ask for a Q-tip. The product packaging even includes warnings not to insert Q-tips into your ear canal, which is ironic because that's the primary use for most people.

Younger generations are more likely to say "cotton swab" or "ear cleaner," but the Q-tip terminology persists among those who grew up when the brand dominated the market without competition. It's another linguistic fossil from an era when brand loyalty was less about choice and more about lack of alternatives.

7) Crock-Pot

Finally, ask a Boomer how to make a slow-cooked meal, and they'll tell you to use the Crock-Pot.

Crock-Pot is a brand of slow cooker originally developed by Rival Manufacturing in the 1970s. The product was inspired by cholent, a Jewish stew traditionally cooked slowly over many hours. The brand became so popular during the 1970s and 1980s that it replaced the generic term in everyday speech.

I noticed this pattern during my time working with older clients in the hospitality industry. They'd share recipes and cooking tips, always referring to their slow cooker as a Crock-Pot. Meanwhile, younger home cooks typically use "slow cooker" or specify their actual brand like Instant Pot.

The Crock-Pot succeeded because it hit the market just as more women were entering the workforce and looking for convenient cooking methods. You could throw ingredients in before work and come home to a ready meal. For Boomers who adopted this technology early, the brand name became inseparable from the appliance itself.

The bottom line

Language evolves with each generation, and brand preferences are no exception.

These seven terms reveal more than just vocabulary choices. They're markers of an era when certain brands so completely dominated their categories that alternatives barely registered in public consciousness. Boomers grew up in a less fragmented marketplace where one or two major brands controlled entire product categories.

Younger generations have grown up with infinite choices and more generic terminology. They're less likely to confuse brand with product because they've always had dozens of options for every need.

Neither approach is right or wrong. They're just different, shaped by the commercial landscapes of different eras. But if you catch yourself asking for Kleenex when you mean tissue, or suggesting someone Xerox a document, you might want to check your birth certificate. Your vocabulary is showing your age.

Then again, maybe that's not such a bad thing. These brand names succeeded because they genuinely improved people's lives. There's something to be said for loyalty to products that served you well. Just don't be surprised when younger people give you a blank look and ask what exactly a Rollerblade is.