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“Claxon” – The Old Brand Name That Became the Word for Car Honk
A small language story: from Klaxon (brand) to claxon (any car horn) in Spanish and many other languages.
In Spanish, many people say el claxon when they talk about the car horn.
But at the beginning, Klaxon (with K) was the name of a brand of car horns, not a normal word in the language.
With time, the brand name escaped from the company and became the everyday word. Something similar happens in English with “Kleenex”.
From “Klaxon” (brand) to “claxon” (any car horn)
In the early 1900s there was a famous company that made loud car horns called Klaxon, with K. These horns made a very strong “oogah” type sound and became popular on the first cars.
Because the brand was so common, people started to use the name “Klaxon” to talk about any car horn, not only that specific brand. Later, in Spanish the spelling changed to claxon with C, and the word stayed in everyday language.
Small summary
Brand name: Klaxon (company that made car horns).
People say: “a klaxon” → “a horn”.
In Spanish: the spelling moves to claxon and becomes a normal word.
Today, dictionaries of Spanish include claxon as a normal word for an electric car horn. So a private company name became part of the language.
Other words in Spanish for “horn”
Not all Spanish speakers use the same word. Depending on the country or region, people can say:
-
- la bocina – very common, neutral word for horn.
- el claxon – used in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Peru and other places.
Example sentences
— Toca el claxon para que se quite ese coche.
“Honk the horn so that car moves.”
— No uses tanto la bocina, hay mucho ruido.
“Don’t use the horn so much, there is a lot of noise.”
Not only Spanish: many languages have “klaxon / claxon”
The story of the Klaxon brand is not only in Spanish. Many other languages took the same name and adapted it to their own spelling to talk about the car horn.
Some examples in other languages
French: klaxon
Italian: clacson
Dutch: claxon
Polish, Czech, Turkish, Indonesian, etc.: klakson
Russian, Bulgarian and other Slavic languages: клаксон
Romanian: claxon
Japanese: クラクション (kurakushon)
Spanish: claxon
In all these cases, the original brand name “Klaxon” jumped into the language and became the normal word for the car horn. One company, many languages.
Another famous example: “Kleenex”
Something similar happens with Kleenex. Kleenex is a brand of tissues, but in many places people say “a Kleenex” for any paper tissue, even if it is a different brand.
This is common in parts of the United States and Canada, and also in some Spanish‑speaking countries, where people say things like “¿Tienes un Kleenex?” instead of “¿Tienes un pañuelo de papel?”.
There are many more examples of brand names that became normal words: “Google” → “to google”, “Photoshop” → “to photoshop a picture”, etc. This can be a fun topic to talk with students.
Mini dialogue with “claxon” and “bocina”
A: ¿Qué fue ese ruido?
A: What was that noise?
B: Es el claxon del coche de al lado.
B: It’s the horn of the car next to us.
A: Creo que el conductor está un poco nervioso…
A: I think the driver is a bit nervous…
B: Sí, aquí a la gente le encanta tocar el claxon para todo.
B: Yes, here people love to honk the horn for everything.
Small activity idea for students
You can ask yourself or your classmates:
- In your language, do you have brand names that became normal words?
- Do people in your city say claxon, bocina or another word for “horn”?
These small stories (claxon, Kleenex, Google, etc.) show how real life and companies can change the vocabulary we use every day.
