X is for Xerox and other brand names that have become either nouns or verbs #AtoZchallenge

Whenever I do a challenge that involves writing about a topic that begins with x, I think so much that I could probably send smoke signals calling for help.

I decided to go with Xerox. My third printer that I ever owned in my life was a cute, multifunctional Xerox. It looked like an old-school telephone. The receiver part was a handheld scanner. You could take it off to scan, or you could feed your paper through it while it was securely on the printer. I loved it, but it died.

Xerox is one of those brand names that ended up being a verb. Did you xerox that contract? It became a synonym for photocopy.

I first learned about this phenomenon of a brand name becoming a noun or a verb when I was fourteen years old. I travelled with my mom to Hong Kong. It was my first time on Cathay Pacific airlines.

I had nicked my finger. I asked one of the cabin staff to get me a Band-Aid. She didn't know what I had meant, so I explained it to her a bit more. She then said that I was looking for a bandage and got me one.

Growing up, we always referred to the average bandage strip as being a Band-Aid. It's interesting how I took that for granted.

When I think about this incident, it made me more aware of the English language. I also became better at explaining myself. I suppose that this experience sparked my ultimate destiny of becoming a writer by trade.

The same goes with grabbing a Kleenex. We grab a tissue before we sneeze. Well, at least we hope that we're that prepared.

Then, there are Q-tips. Do you have any Q-tips? We need cotton swabs.

I suppose we take brand names and say them so much that they become verbs. Look at Google, the search engine. Go ahead and look up that term. Google it.

English is a fascinating, confusing language. It never gets dull to me.

X is for bent over a Xerox machine for a spanking

Each floor at the office has a printing room. We happen to have an all-in-one machine that prints, scans, staples, and faxes. It is indeed a Xerox machine in all our printing rooms.

I had the most delightful fantasy the other day. My guy and I are fetching our printouts in one of these room. The paper jams. I try and fix the issue, but the printer just sits there, out of service.

My guy has an important document that he needs and blames the malfunction on me for no apparent reason.

I protest. He feels that I have gone too far. He bends me over the Xerox machine, pulls down my panties, lifts my skirt up, and spanks me hard with his bare hand.

It would be wonderful if we could re-enact this fine scenario one of these days. The problem is that our rooms are not completely private at the office. We have windows where people can peek through. So, we'd have to give this a whirl after hours.

Of course, having a somewhat not-so-private room makes this scenario exciting!