Styrofoam :)

[JJohnson]

Did you know that Styrofoam should be capitalized? At least in Microsoft
Word it is... I'm guessing that means it's a person or company name rather
than an object, correct? If that's the case, why isn't 'Dell' or 'Iomega'
capitalized? They're far more memorable than a company named Styrofoam.

Obviously, Styrofoam sounds better than its content; polystyrene.

"I packed the box using Styrofoam."

That sounds better than: "I packed the box using polystyrene."

Does anybody actually know what polystyrene is? Most people probably don't.
This takes us back to my other question; why isn't 'Dell', 'Iomega', or
other famous companies capitalized in Microsoft Word? It's very obvious that
Microsoft deliberately placed 'Styrofoam' in their spelling database. Yet
Dell and Iomega come BEFORE Styrofoam in the dictionary. Do you suppose
there's some hidden meaning to this that we don't understand?

 

[Cheryl Fischer]

Do you suppose

there's some hidden meaning to this that we don't understand?

Don't know - I'm just an Access programmer. If the answer is known, I'd
bet you could find out by posting your question in one of the Word
newsgroups, all of which begin with microsoft.public.word

hth,

 

[Ronald W. Roberts]

Did you know that Styrofoam should be capitalized? At least in Microsoft
Word it is... I'm guessing that means it's a person or company name rather
than an object, correct? If that's the case, why isn't 'Dell' or 'Iomega'
capitalized? They're far more memorable than a company named Styrofoam.

Obviously, Styrofoam sounds better than its content; polystyrene.

"I packed the box using Styrofoam."

That sounds better than: "I packed the box using polystyrene."

Does anybody actually know what polystyrene is? Most people probably don't.
This takes us back to my other question; why isn't 'Dell', 'Iomega', or
other famous companies capitalized in Microsoft Word? It's very obvious that
Microsoft deliberately placed 'Styrofoam' in their spelling database. Yet
Dell and Iomega come BEFORE Styrofoam in the dictionary. Do you suppose
there's some hidden meaning to this that we don't understand?

Styrofoam is a trademark (or was, I don't know if it is today) of The Dow
Chemical Company.

 

[david epsom dot com dot au]

Recognition of brand names is not something that is required
by law or practice: rather it is something that companies
do out of self interest: I recognise your brand because I want
you to recognise mine.

Trademarks are particularly difficult to enforce when you use
a standard dictionary word: "windows", "dell". In fact, for
a long time the courts explicitly refused to recognise dictionary
words as trademarks or brand names, so companies resorted to
inventing words: "Styrofoam", or misspelling words: "sox"

However, brand names (unlike trade 'marks') don't have to be
unique: only not confusing if you can help it. So if your
glass supplier in the valley has been using the name
"Windows in the Dell" for the last 40 years there are no
explicit legal problems.

Regarding Iomega, my guess is that it is a simple mistake:
someone without benefit of a classical education thought it
was actually a word.

(david)