hoover
verb
UK
He was busy hoovering the bedroom carpet when I got home.
hoovering
noun/ˈhuː.və.rɪŋ/
Could you do the hoovering?
Sir Billy does the hoovering in A Gentle Awakening. Personally speaking, I wouldn't call this 'doing the rough' but it is a time consuming chore that our besieged heroine was happy to have taken off her hands (that is, if she would stop following him around and telling him he was too good to hoover).
Of course, in America Hoover is the name of a vacuum brand...and our 31st president (no relation)--a man who, much like a Dutch doctor, likely never had to hoover a day in his life. Despite having a prominent square in Belgium named in his honor, there is no evidence that Herbert Clark Hoover ever destroyed a marriage.
In much the same way as all Kleenex Tissues are called 'Kleenex" whether they are manufactured by Kleenex or not and all pop (my Southern Californian husband says, "It's soda! Not pop!") is called 'Coke' in some southern states--our British compadres across the sea employ the same idea with vacuums. No matter how posh the Dyson guy sounds, he's still peddling a hoover at the end of the day....Though in the interests of full disclosure, my vacuum actually is a Hoover.
Sir Billy does the hoovering in A Gentle Awakening. Personally speaking, I wouldn't call this 'doing the rough' but it is a time consuming chore that our besieged heroine was happy to have taken off her hands (that is, if she would stop following him around and telling him he was too good to hoover).
Of course, in America Hoover is the name of a vacuum brand...and our 31st president (no relation)--a man who, much like a Dutch doctor, likely never had to hoover a day in his life. Despite having a prominent square in Belgium named in his honor, there is no evidence that Herbert Clark Hoover ever destroyed a marriage.
In much the same way as all Kleenex Tissues are called 'Kleenex" whether they are manufactured by Kleenex or not and all pop (my Southern Californian husband says, "It's soda! Not pop!") is called 'Coke' in some southern states--our British compadres across the sea employ the same idea with vacuums. No matter how posh the Dyson guy sounds, he's still peddling a hoover at the end of the day....Though in the interests of full disclosure, my vacuum actually is a Hoover.
My vacuum is also a Hoover.
ReplyDeleteI believe the term is "Synecdoche."
ReplyDeleteMy vacuum is a Hoover(TM) as well. With a retractable cord. I love it.
I should probably hoover the living room at some point today.
Whenever I hear the British term "hoovering", I always picture someone floating around the living room. It sounds so much more civilized than what happens when I drag out my mother-in-law's asthmatic old Hoover and go to town.
ReplyDelete