[10dpd]

Sigh. Its quite depressing to see Americans rely on brand names rather than the original meaning of the word.

It would almost make you want to take an Advil.

[vatueil]

It's mostly regional variation rather than brand names. American English almost always uses "cotton swab" as the generic term while British English today uses "cotton bud" more often. Overall "cotton swab" appears to be the most common English term.

Given that "cotton bud" appears to be a relatively recent British quirk (gaining popularity in the last couple decades), I would submit that "cotton swab" is the original and proper generic term.

British English: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cotton+swab%2C...

American English: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cotton+swab%2C...

English overall: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cotton+swab%2C...

(Refresh the page if the graph doesn't load at first.)

[10dpd]

I was referring to the use of the brand name 'Q Tip'.

[teilo]

If the OA had said "cotton swabs" we would have known what it meant. Don't be a dick.

[adventured]

Was your entire post just a very cheap excuse to bash Americans?

Why would it be "quite depressing" if Americans call them Q-tips or "cotton buds" or any number of a dozen other things.

[pwinnski]

I'd say the entire post was probably an attempt at a joke, given the use of brand-name Advil.