Both Uses of
generic
in
Do You Speak American?
- Think, for example, of how you guys has now become a generic form of address: it is gender-, age-, and class-neutral, and decidedly informal.†
Chpt Intr.
- In different regions the same carbonated beverage is known variously as soda, pop, tonic, soft drink, or generically, whatever the flavor, a Coke.†
Chpt 2 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(generic) applicable to an entire class or group rather than to a specific thing; or a non-branded version of something such as a medication or grocery
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Less commonly, "generic" can mean: relating to, common to, or descriptive of all members of a genus (as in the genus and species of taxonomy). It is from this meaning that today's more common meaning probably originated.