Talk:Foxtail

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In the 1960s there was a toy in Australia known as a zippy which consisted of a tennis ball with a piece of elastic attached, similar in some ways to a captive golf ball, and used for tennis stroke practice and many less serious pursuits. They may still be available for all I know, although I think totem tennis has largely superseded them. Is a zippy a foxtail in US English? Andrewa 07:06, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I'm not so sure... foxtails aren't really elastic. Was the zippy designed to be thrown like a sling, or was this something developed by those with "less serious pursuits"? Here's a picture of a foxtail: [1].

Side note: I'm pretty sure that "Foxtail" is a name brand that came to be known as the general term, like "Rollerblade" and "Kleenex". • Benc • 21:02, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)

OK, completely different thing. It was just a coincidence that some flying foxes are known as ziplines elsewhere, and that flying fox had been confused with something slightly similar to what was known as a zippy here.

But you say that these are also available from other manufacturers, and known generically as foxtails? I think we are on very thin ice here. It looks to me like this might be a registered brand name, not a generic term at all. You can't label generic tissues kleenex any more than you can call any old photocopier a xerox. The corporations that own these brands consistently and successfully threaten legal action against those who try. IANAL but rollerblade has been less successfully defended AFAIK, as has windsurfer although there was some attempt to do so. I wonder where foxtail lies on this spectrum? Andrewa 00:14, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Good question; I'll have to research it. Unlike the genericized trademarks "photocopier"→Xerox, "tissues"→Kleenex, "in-line skates"→Rollerblades, etc., I don't know of any truly generic name for Foxtails that's commonly used. ("Ball-and-rope"? "Ball with rope attached"? "Toy sling"?) I'd be surprised if some other toy manufacturer hasn't manufactured a ball-and-rope toy. • Benc • 00:42, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)

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