How to write about trademarks. Why we say 'thank you.'

1034. First, we look at how writers should use trademarked terms like "Kleenex" and "Google," including when to capitalize them and how to avoid legal pitfalls. Then, we look at the way the word "thank" evolved alongside changing social conventions — who got thanked and why, and how the word itself evolved.  

The trademark segment was written by Natalie Schilling, a professor emerita of linguistics at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, who runs a forensic linguistics consulting firm. You can find her on LinkedIn. 

The "thank you" segment was written by Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and the author of "Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English." You can find her at valeriefridland.com.

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