Do you say you’re hoovering or vacuuming?

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Remote-Accountant427@reddit

I hoover with a Miele. Cheltenham Gloucestershire

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East London, always been hoovering. However that word is also local slang for what the rest of the U.K. seems to refer to as “minesweeping”… the tawdry practice of stealing unattended/abandoned drinks in a pub/club once your money has run out. As in “I feel like shit… Last night I had 8 pints of Strongbow and then started hoovering.”

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topher2604@reddit

I say "vac up"

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Unable_Obligation_73@reddit

I am going to suck clean the carpet

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nali_cow@reddit

With the Rollsuck Supreme!

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HighlandsBen@reddit

In German it's a "dustsucker", so close

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ambiiee96@reddit

I’d run a mile if someone said this to me in real life. Psychopath 😂

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kjus13@reddit

Vacuuming. Hoover is a brand. Just like cooking using a cooker. You wouldn't say bekoing or kenwooding.

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nali_cow@reddit

So I'm guessing you've never said you're using sellotape, velcro, a thermos, a biro, bubble wrap, a frisbee, or a jacuzzi?

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kjus13@reddit

Correct. I do say google, though, but that's because I actually use Google to do that. And I'd really like to know what other commenters are using when they mention it as an analogy to hoovering.

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nali_cow@reddit

Just imagining you sitting there asking someone if they have any "hook and loop fastener". Hilarious.

Honey I'm just off to the park to throw a flying-disc toy for the dog

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kjus13@reddit

And how often do you need to ask someone if they have any? Hilarious indeed. What's wrong about flying disc? That actually was what I learned to call the thing. Only later have I encountered people call it frisbee.

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xmastreee@reddit

Never Hoovering. I've never owned a Hoover vacuum either. I would always say vacuuming.

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janusz0@reddit

I say hoovering, except when I'm using High Vacuum* equipment in the lab.

* That's not what US people call HVAC either:)

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2cbterry@reddit

Devon, I know it should be called vacuuming but I still say hoovering

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AnEnglishmanInParis@reddit

I still use a carpet sweeper…

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Obvious_Reporter_235@reddit

I say hoovering. My wife and her family say sweeping. But they’re from Lincolnshire.

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Kir1405@reddit

Hoovering.

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trainpk85@reddit

I’m in Newcastle and hoover with a Dyson

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hochiho923@reddit

like you use "google" as a verb replacing "search" no matter what search engine brand you're using.

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WtfArePlantains31@reddit

Northern Ireland, hoovering. It just sounds better.

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tinytinycommander@reddit

Vacuuming, but pronounced va-cum. This thread has been an eye opener, always thought hoovering was an Americanism.

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JonathnJms2829@reddit

South Wales - Hoover.

Henry deserves an MBE imho.

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GuybrushFunkwood@reddit

I just asked the cleaner and she said hoovering …. I also docked her an hours pay for talking on the job.

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trustmeimabuilder@reddit

Can't get the staff nowadays, I wonder why.

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JonathnJms2829@reddit

Too talkative.

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Nine_Eye_Ron@reddit

Always said vacuuming, EoE

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Jeggasyn@reddit

Hoover /ˈhuːvə/ British verb gerund or present participle: hoovering clean (something) with a vacuum cleaner. "he was hoovering the stairs" suck something up with or as if with a vacuum cleaner. "hoover up all the dust"

It is idiomatic, and that's how language develops over time. I'm wondering if people think idiomatic is another word for idiot?

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NortonBurns@reddit

I've never owned a Hoover, but I've had several Dysons over the past 30-odd years.
I still hoover with it.

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CuriousThylacine@reddit

I've owned one Hoover brand hoover. It was ok.

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CuriousThylacine@reddit

I announce over the Tanoy and sound a Klaxon when I'm Hoovering. Then afterwards I get in my Jacuzzi and enjoy some Heroin.

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pinkdaisylemon@reddit

Hoovering of course! (Shark)

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ljr69@reddit

I’m little henrying

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prustage@reddit

Hoovering - born in the north, live in the south.

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purrcthrowa@reddit

It's hoovering. I'm an IP lawyer, and I despise people who take trademarks too seriously.

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SnooDonuts6494@reddit

Oovrin'.

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geordieooosha69@reddit

Hoover, regardless of the brand.

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stargrazer156@reddit

Free will, it is a powerful tool.

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coleslawontoast@reddit

Hoovering

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WoodenEggplant4624@reddit

Never owned a Hoover but I use my Panasonic to hoover.

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NegotiationNo9488@reddit

I sau vaccum as habbit and get weird responses, Im in Coventry

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Lorelei7772@reddit

I say hoover, like most people do in the North West but when I was a reporter our style book wouldn't allow us to use the word in the newspaper. Because it's a brand name, we would get annoying letters from lawyers, so we had to say "vacuum". Other banned words were "biro" and "tarmac".

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Rumhampolicy@reddit

Hoovering (miele)

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JER2501Derby@reddit

Me too, Miele and hoovering

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Rumhampolicy@reddit

Love a Miele 👌😂

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MountainMuffin1980@reddit

I don't think that person knows what the term "idiomatic" means. I think they are idiotic. Or maybe I am.

I always say "I'm going to run the hoover around". No one I know says vacuum.

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Lorelei7772@reddit

Yeah, it's also said as though idioms are bad?! Idioms simply mark you out as a native speaker.

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Any-Web-3347@reddit

I had to look it up, and agree it’s not idiomatic, it’s genericization. Not something I expect to be saying often.

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behemuffin@reddit

It is an idiomatic genericisation: the use of this particular proprietary name in place of a common verb forms an idiom peculiar to British English.

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

One of the definitions of idiomatic is "Peculiar to or characteristic of a given language", the use of "hoover" to mean "vacuum" is idiomatic to British English.

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Scarred_fish@reddit

Hoovering is using a device (which may or may not be a Hoover appliance) to suck up dust etc from floors and othe surfaces.

Vacuuming is the process of vacuum packing foodstuffs for freezing or other storage.

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BreqsCousin@reddit

Obviously I am hoovering with my Shark hoover

(Somerset)

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sparklybeast@reddit

Also hoover with my Shark here in West Yorks.

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jen_is@reddit

And here in south yorkshire

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Thalamic_Cub@reddit

Would be amusing to be sharking with your hoover.

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tcpukl@reddit

Remind me of the shake and vac adverts!

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Stunning_Anteater537@reddit

That gives me mental images of trying to chat up the milkman in the 60s wearing a housecoat and rollers 🤣🤣

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Stunning_Anteater537@reddit

Yup, hoovering with my Shark 🤣

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Rojoste@reddit

I kinda say either but probably hoovering more often

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RhinoRhys@reddit

The term is "genericised trademark".

It's the same for the Americans Xeroxing everything, or everyone "googling" something even if for some reason they use Bing, sticking stuff up with off-brand Blu-tak, or writing with a Biro.

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IainMCool@reddit

I've got a Shark Hoover. Before that I had a Dyson Hoover. Can't remember what Hoover I had before that, but it wasn't a Hoover.

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Flashington1@reddit

We put the vac/vacuum round

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semicombobulated@reddit

Scouseland — I’ve always said “hoovering”. Although come to think of it, I’m not sure I have ever seen a Hoover brand hoover

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Soggy_Zebra6857@reddit

I tend to call it vacing up.

But I remember my uncle always said he went on holiday on the Hoover Craft.

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EmbroidedBumblebee@reddit

I say vaccing up, that's ehat my family says. But outside of my family I've heard most people say hoover

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pippaskipper@reddit

I mix and match

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TSC-99@reddit

Hoovering with shark

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justareddituser2022@reddit

I use either interchangeably. I was a cleaner for 9 years, in England, and they are both well known terms and most people use the word 'hoover'.

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sjw_7@reddit

Hoover.

I have a friend who works for Dyson and it drives him up the wall when I refer to it as Hoovering so naturally I keep doing it.

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Vickyinredditland@reddit

Cheshire, it's hoovering. I've never owned a hoover brand hoover.

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Shakis87@reddit

Seen a couple of guys hoovering lines at the weekend, no vacuums involved.

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bibonacci2@reddit

I’ll “hoover” or “vac” but I won’t “vacuum”.

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ambiiee96@reddit

I hoover with my trusty Henry

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Slapedd1953@reddit

I too hoover with a Henry, but I used to hoover with a Dyson.

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TumbleweedMaterial53@reddit

Dorset - hoover ….i think Americans vacuum! 🤣

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Sad_Introduction8995@reddit

Why is this a thing? I grew up in the south. We never had a ‘hoover’ and we ‘vacuumed’. And honestly my parents are US-phobic. But I don’t feel weird saying ‘hoover’ even though I know very well it’s not correct.

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ugoogli@reddit

I say “hoovering” to the Brits in my life and “vacuuming” to the Americans in my life.

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anon1992lol@reddit

Sorry to hear there are Americans in your life!

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LuxInteriorLux@reddit

Maybe the annoying ones can be hoovered up

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Herne_KZN@reddit

Vacuuming. Just never used Hoover in the generic sense.

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LuxInteriorLux@reddit

It's a hoover who ever made it

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AnneKnightley@reddit

Hoovering - yes it’s a brand but we’ve grown to use it like “google” so it’s fine.

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Intrepid-Account743@reddit

Hoovering, Yorkshire.

Christ it's an endless job!

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BuncleCar@reddit

I've said both and still do. Always someone on the fence 😉

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NathTheChippy@reddit

Not really relevant to your point but have you asked them what they're doing there?

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Naima22@reddit

Hoover has been added to Oxford, Collins and Cambridge dictionaries as a verb meaning to vacuum clean. So hoover all you want folks!

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HoraceDerwent@reddit

I'm J. Edgaring

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theroch_@reddit

FBI-ing?

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Virtual-Eye-2998@reddit

You're dressing up like a lady?

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Trudi1201@reddit

From Surrey moved to Notts and now in South Alabama US

It's hoovering

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trustmeimabuilder@reddit

Hoovering, definitely

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IcyPuffin@reddit

I used to say hoovering. However I used to work in an electrical shop and my boss hated calling it that, so I started saying vacuuming- which is technically the correct thing to say.

Ever since ive said vacuuming.

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JazzlikeFlamingo6773@reddit

Hoovering…. The only time I vacuum anything is when I use the vacuum pack food machine thing….. and now I’m wondering if “vacuum cleaner” is even the right name for the debris sucking noise machine? Do they actually create a vacuum at all?

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

Brought up in Kent and it's always been hoovering, and like others I don't think we've had a Hoover hoover for decades, I can only really remember Dyson hoovers.

Hoovering is absolutely idiomatic to British English, just like xeroxing is in American English, or googling is worldwide. Or any other trademark that has been genericised into a verb.

Photoshopping is another, but Adobe try their damndest to not let that happen

Trademarks are not verbs.

Correct: The image was enhanced using Adobe® Photoshop® software.

Incorrect: The image was photoshopped.

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Optimal_Collection77@reddit

Sucking off

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BlessedByAYoungDeath@reddit

I bet he says he Googled something instead of search engined, the hypocrite.

I say hoovering.

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gogybo@reddit

Wdym hypocrite? "Hoovering" as a verb is definitely idiomatic to the UK.

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heyitsed2@reddit

Well if he used Google specifically then it's not hypocritical...

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BlessedByAYoungDeath@reddit

Read the body text of the post

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heyitsed2@reddit

I stand by what I said. If you use a Hoover to vacuum it's technically correct to say hoovering

If you use Google as a search engine it's technically correct to say googling.

What am I missing?

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BlessedByAYoungDeath@reddit

They never stated they've got a Hoover brand vacuum cleaner, I never said he used Google

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LuvvedIt@reddit

No but they said “What if…”. Jeez this isn’t hard grammatically or logically. 🤷‍♂️

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BlessedByAYoungDeath@reddit

Bit of a pointless what if

"What if - what we were saying was slightly different so it *wasn't" hypocritical?"

OK, I guess?

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imtheorangeycenter@reddit

"I'm just going to drag Henry around the house and smash his face into a doorway or two then make him snort the floor crumbs again. He'll be lucky if he doesn't fall down the stairs."

It's hoovering. Of course it's hoovering.

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JazzlikeFlamingo6773@reddit

Best comment ever 🤣

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Thread-Hunter@reddit

Hoovering. Vacuum is an American term.

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Fluffy_Dragonfly6248@reddit

And Australian

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Legitimate_War_397@reddit

Hovering, south west

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Intrepid_Bearz@reddit

Grew up in Surrey and always said “Hoovering” 🤷🏻‍♂️

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Consistent-Show1732@reddit

I hoover. With my Shark. In Suffolk, East Anglia.

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DrachenDad@reddit

Vac. Both of my vacuum cleaners are shop vacs.

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SnoozleBug5@reddit

North Yorkshire - hoovering

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Prestigious_Sand1978@reddit

Said hoovering for over 50 years and will continue to do so.

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Intelligent-Iguana@reddit

Vacuuming - South West UK, though these days I don't say either as the robot vacuum does it for me!

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zonaa20991@reddit

Vacuuming. It is a vacuum cleaner. Also, when you clean the vacuum cleaner you become a vacuum cleaner.

From Devon

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Exceedingly@reddit

And when you shower, you're cleaning the vacuum cleaner cleaner so you're a vacuum cleaner cleaner cleaner.

I still say hoover though.

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SnoopyLupus@reddit

The only Hoover product I own is a washing machine.

But it’s always been hoovering.

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cosmic_monsters_inc@reddit

Hoover even though yeah that's the brand.

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Havana-plant@reddit

Essex - hoovering

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bnnyrabbit@reddit

hoovering, manchester

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Great_Tradition996@reddit

Vacuuming. Originally from West Mids, now live NE

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sebby1990@reddit

London/Surrey - hoovering.

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BG3restart@reddit

I hoovered with whatever vacuum cleaner I had over the years, none of which have been a Hoover. Also Midlands.

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FScrotFitzgerald@reddit

Is the commenter American? I grew up saying "Hoovering" in various bits of the north, but it's not used in that sense in the USA. Too many famous Hoovers over here that aren't the vacuum people...

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No_Battle_6402@reddit (OP)

From looking at their profile… I’m assuming an American living in Japan

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