"Just": The facts

From Just Egg (which doesn't contain eggs) to Just Tires (which sells much more than tires), this four-letter word is both indefinite and ubiquitous.

This is just — hah! — a quick note to let you know about a new story I’ve published on Medium: “Just Add ‘Just’: The Four-Letter Word That’s All Over Supermarket Shelves and Advertising Copy” (gift link).

A snippet:

From software to clothing, from insurance to cosmetics, from egg substitutes to wedding-planning services, JUST is one of the most popular modifiers in brand naming. I recently counted nearly 5,000 registered trademarks for brands called JUST in the U.S. Patent and Trademark database. And that’s, well, just the tip of the iceberg: Another 1,500 trademark registrations for JUST brands are still pending approval.

Here’s one of the approved marks:

Spotted in my building’s lobby: JUST BAGELS, Made in ‘Da Bronx.

And here’s another:

Spotted in my kitchen: JUST DATE organic date syrup. Not to be confused with the JUSTDATE dating app.

When I posted about my story on Bluesky, Iva Cheung replied with a link to a July 2015 article in The Independent (UK) headlined “Former Google and Apple Exec Calls on Women to Stop Saying ‘Just’ at Work.” (“Ms Leanse said removing ‘just’' strengthens the conviction of a sentence and allows for presenting ideas in the work place in a more intelligent and confident way.”) Iva’s comment: “Interesting how brands are doing exactly what women were told about a decade ago *not* to do 🤔”

And there’s more! Two unrelated Blueskyers, Jason Kirk and Slacktivistfred, independently mentioned that “just” is a favorite word of “youth pastors” and “non-denom Christians.” News to me!

Do you have a good JUST name or story? Leave a comment here or on Medium. And don’t forget to clap for the Medium story — you can keep tap-tap-tapping up to 50 times, and each clap earns me another fraction of a cent. Just deserts, right?