Don't you dare google, says Google

WEB SEARCH outfit Google, fired off a bunch of legal letters warning folk to cease and desist from using the word Google as a verb.

A spokeGoogle said the company thinks, "It's important to make the distinction between using the word Google to describe using Google to search the Internet, and using the word Google to describe searching the Internet."

"It has some serious trademark issues," he added, according to the Independent.

But while some say Google - the company - is having a laugh, others are worried that the geeky-imaged outfit it getting too much like a typical bullyish corporation.

Like 'to hoover' before it, 'to google' has become common usage as a verb in the UK. And you'd hardly use it if you used Alta Vista, for example, to run a web search.

And, last month, "to google", was honoured with inclusion in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, after, in June, Google (with a capital G) made it into the Oxford English Dictionary.

It seems it's the capital letter - or lack of one - that upset the corporation.

As it noted in its missive to media oufuits including the Washington Post, appropriate use of the term as far as Google is concerned sould be: "I ran a Google search to check out that guy from the party."

Inappropriate, it says, would be: "I googled that hottie."

Companies like to make up words and trademark them. Their 'brands', they say, are worth millions. However, if they catch on they can become used in everyday speech, which is when the word facsists get the hump and send in the thought police. µ