-zilla

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-zilla is an English slang suffix, a back-formation derived from the English name of the Japanese movie monster Godzilla.[1][2] It is popular for the names of software and websites. It is also found often in popular culture to imply some form of excess, denoting the monster-like qualities of Godzilla.

This trend has been observed since the popularization of the Mozilla Project, which itself included the Internet Relay Chat client ChatZilla.[3]

The use of the suffix was contested by Toho, owners of the trademark Godzilla, in a lawsuit against the website Davezilla[4] and also against Sears for their mark Bagzilla.[5] Toho has since trademarked the word "Zilla" and retroactively used it as an official name for the "Godzilla In Name Only" creature from the 1998 Roland Emmerich film.[6]

List of -zillas

Some uses of the suffix -zilla include:

Businesses and products

Entertainment

Miscellaneous

For derived words

References

  1. Chrysti M. Smith. Verbivore's Feast: Second Course: More Word & Phrase Origins.
  2. William Tsutsui. "Godzilla and Postwar Japan Lunch Keynote". Address 2004 National Meeting Asian Studies.
  3. "IRC in Mozilla, aka ChatZilla". mozilla.org. Mozilla Organization. May 18, 2000. Archived from the original on 2000-08-15. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  4. "Godzilla vs. the blog thing". CNET.com.
  5. Philip Summa. "New Test for Trademark Dilution - Why North Carolina Should Adopt Section 12 of the Model State Trademark". Campbell L. Rev. 5.
  6. "ZILLA - Trademark Details". Justia Trademarks. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  7. Kuma, Amit (30 July 1998). "DOSzilla The Free, Mozilla Based, Web Browser for DOS". idt.net. Archived from the original on 10 October 1999. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
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