"Google this" now correct English

Stan Beer
Friday, 07 July 2006 05:47

Your IT - Home IT

Google is now an official verb of the English language - well at least the American English language, according to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. Whether the Oxford English Dictionary follows suit remains to be seen, however there is no reason why it shouldn't given the widespread usage of the term in relation to web searching using Google.

Paradoxically, the phenomenal branding success that Messrs Brin and Page have achieved with their company's name has Google Inc a trifle concerned. Now that the word is officially a part of the language, Google Inc is worried that they may lose branding control. Google is now a generic verb meaning to search the net using the Google search engine, therefore another company selling a related added-on product might try to use the name as part of its branding.

Who knows, maybe one day a soft drink for web surfers called Googleade or Google Cola may hit supermarket shelves. However, probably not without the blessing of Google Inc.