Here in the States we say vacuum when we plan to use the vacuum cleaner to clean the floor. How do the English refer to both the act of vacuuming and the tool that does the vacuuming?
Thinking about this as I was driving around for work today....
Around here, North Central and North Western PA, folks talk about using the sweeper when they mean the vacuum. They don't use it as a verb, though. like hoovering. "Get the sweeper out so we can vacuum up this mess!"
I'm not British either, but I'm positive I've heard "Hoover" and hoovering...and I'm fairly certain it doesn't matter if it's the brand or not. Similar to Americans with Kleenex. Everyone I know says "do you have any Kleenex?" and no one actually cares about the brand name, they're just looking for tissues.
'Hoover' and 'hoovering' is about the only example I know of wherein Brits will use the brand name as a generic. We would never say 'Kleenex' for a tissue, or 'Bandaid' for a plaster - yet hoovering it is!
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Around here, North Central and North Western PA, folks talk about using the sweeper when they mean the vacuum. They don't use it as a verb, though. like hoovering. "Get the sweeper out so we can vacuum up this mess!"
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I have a Dyson vacuum cleaner which moves by itself around our house so that you can never find the blasted thing.
The person asking for it will ALWAYS say, where's the hoover?
Once a week, the children have to hoover their sitting room. With the hoover. (Which is actually a Dyson.)
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I think you're right that hoovering is the only occasion a brand name has become a verb though :D
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