Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works Pay brain Stuff Lauren Vocabam. Here, let's say it's a hot summer day and you're enjoying a delicious frozen treat, something we would normally identify with a word that you can make by combining what Michael Jackson was the king of and one of the two tools on the former flag of
the Soviet Union. And no, I am not talking about Neverland ranch hammers, though that sounds delicious anyway, If you look down at the label of your icy snack, there's a good chance that it will not be labeled with that word I just alluded to, and instead we'll say that it's a quiescently frozen confection. But what does quiescently frozen confection mean? While the jargon, why not just say a popsicle? Let's break down the phrase quiescently frozen confection.
Confection just means a sweet food or dessert. I assume you know what frozen means and quiescently means at rest, this is worth specifying. In the world of frozen treats. Quiescently frozen food just sits there while it freezes. It's at rest. If you've ever made homemade ice pops out of orange juice or mountain dew and an ice cube tray in your freezer, those were quiescently frozen. This is in contrast to something like ice cream, which is not
quiescently frozen. Ice Cream is frozen and whipped at the same time. In factories that make ice cream, a blade called a dasher turns inside the ice cream vat to vigorously stir the mix while it freezes. This incorporates air bubbles, which is a crucial part of forming the internal structure of the ice cream. If you just poured ice cream bis into an ice cube tray and froze it, it would not taste or feel right. This is also why when ice cream refreezes after melting, it's never quite the same.
But okay, we all know what popsicle means. Why mess with this scientific term. We do this because popsicle is what we might refer to as a proprietary eponym, a word that is actually a registered trademark of a company that we've come to use as a generic term in Carmon parlance. Other examples include xerox for photocopy, band aid for adhesive bandages, velcro for those hook and loop fasteners, Kleenex for tissues, Frisbee for throwing discs, and styrofoam for
extruded polystyrene foam. Now, if you're a kid asking your friend's mom if you can have another popsicle, this probably doesn't matter unless your friend's mom is a trademark lawyer for the Unilever Supply Chain Incorporated. That's because popsicle is a registered trademark of Unilever Supply Chain Incorporated. They are serious about their rights and they've definitely got them some lawyers.
So how did this come to be? Popsicles are quiescently frozen confections were invented in nineteen o five by an eleven year old kid in San Francisco named Frank Epperson. When Epperson grew up, he began selling them as frozen drinks on a stick. In ninety four, he took out
a patent for his frozen confectionery. By n he had started calling these frozen confectioneries popsicles, the apparent logic being soda pop us icicle, or possibly his kids called them icicles that they're pop made that year he sold the rights to the Joe Low Company in New York. Fast forward to when Uni leaver subsidiary Good Humor bought the rights to the name popsicle. Uni Leaver still owns those rights, But do they really care if you use the term generically? Oh? Yes.
According to UNI Leaver's public facing website, you should never use popsicle as a noun, but rather as a modifier, meaning you don't want a popsicle, you want a popsical ice pop. Similarly, you shouldn't pluralize the word. You're not going to go to the store to buy popsicles, You're gonna buy popsicle pops. And if you said that you love popsicles great taste, you're talking about the flavor of
a company. If you're talking about the food product, you would be correct to say the great taste of popsicle ice pops. And if you happen to decide to start a business selling your own quiescently frozen confections, don't think all normal people call them popsicles. It'll be fine. Don't be so sure. Lawyers are not normal people, and you will. Leavers trademark warriors have gone after small businesses before and demanded that all infringement of the popsical trademark be scrubbed
from existence. So remember, next time you're about to leave some event early and you want to sound cool, don't say let's blow this popsicle stand. Say let's blow this quiescently frozen confection stand like a good law abiding citizen. Today's episode was written by Joe McCormick and produced by Tyler Clang. To hear more from Joe, check out his podcast Stuff to Blow Your Mind, and, of course, for more on this and lots of other law abiding topics, visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com