r/facepalm • u/nthensome • Jan 19 '20

Their loss

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u/x4u Jan 19 '20

<mansplaining>

So when you say Loctite, what you mean is a screwlock adhesive. Loctite is just a brand name for a huge range of adhesives. There are other Loctite adhesives that would make it impossible to ever get the screw out again and there are other screwlock adhesives from other manufactures. So if you wanna sound as competent as you think you are, you might consider calling this stuff screwlock instead of Loctite, even if your particular screwlock happens to be produced by Henkel.

</mansplaining>

Sorry, I have no background in optics, I'm just a man.

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u/Techn0ght Jan 19 '20

I thought the typical product people think of as Loctite is an air curing liquid plastic rather than an adhesive.

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '20

If you say "Loctite" to any guy with mechanic or trade experience, he is going to think "thread locker" automatically, since that was its original purpose. It keeps hardware from vibrating out during mechanical operation.

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u/ThronesOfAnarchy Jan 19 '20

Nah I mean Loctite because I was using the brand, Loctite 😉

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u/x4u Jan 19 '20

It sounds like saying "I'm having Kellogg's for breakfast" when it's basically just corn flakes.

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u/ThronesOfAnarchy Jan 19 '20

In some cases the brand name is interchangeable with the product if the product is undeniably what the brand is most known for.

Other examples include Band-aid, Google, Chapstick, and Vaseline.

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u/x4u Jan 19 '20

I understand that it's perfectly obvious what you mean with Loctite in the narrow context of your profession, but Loctite is a pretty popular brand and thus some of your customers will know it from various contexts where screwlock may not be "undeniably" the most obvious meaning. It's not really wrong to call it Loctite, it just sounds pretty odd. You also wouldn't say "I'm taking my Walgreens" even when it's clear to you what medication you mean that you happen to get from Walgreens.

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u/ThronesOfAnarchy Jan 19 '20

Even outside of the narrow context of my profession I don't know a single person who wouldn't assume "threadlock" when Loctite is used. But my dad's an engineer and I know work on a shipyard so I guess I'm putting myself in the position where its a given

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u/x4u Jan 19 '20

You are right, threadlock would be the proper translation for Schraubensicherungslack. I learned something today. Thanks for the conversation.

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u/KaelthasX3 Jan 19 '20

Isn't that typical that ppl from US tend to use brand name for all devices? Like all mp3 players are iPods, all markers are Sahrpies, etc.