Generica

See also: generica, genérica, and genèrica

English

Etymology

Blend of generic +‎ America.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒəˈnɛɹɪkə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Proper noun

Generica

1. Features of the landscape such as fire hydrants, letterboxes, fast-food chains, streets called "Main", etc., that are the same throughout the United States.
   • 1994 November 3, Amy Satterthwaite, “In Their Own Words”, in The Free Lance-Star:

     Chandler commanded a spotlight at the far end of the stage at Picker’s Supply Concert Hall downtown last Friday night. There, he was loudly ranting about a commercial wasteland he called the “United States of Generica.”

   • 1998, Michael Marshall Smith, One of Us, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 48:

     The valley areas are split up into regular grids of stores and restaurants, and you're never more than a five-minute drive from a Starbucks or Borders or Baby Gap, the building blocks of Generica.

   • 1999, Helen Husher, Off the Leash‎^[1], Countryman Press, →ISBN, pages 20–21:

     It is generica that plagues the outskirts of every medium-sized city with its strip malls and fast-food stops and traffic lights; it is generica that always persuades me to drive off quite confidently in the wrong direction.

References

• Paul McFedries (1996 December 8) “Generica”, in Word Spy, Logophilia Limited, retrieved 4 June 2017.

Anagrams

• Carnegie, Greecian, greeniac