Can I use “Etch A Sketch” as a verb to mean ‘flip flop one's words?’
Today I saw an instance of a proper noun (Google) being used as a verb in the following question on EL&U:
I read an article recently where the author used "substract" instead of "subtract". I'm more familiar with the latter word but after doing a bit of googling, it seems that both words are being used, …
This reminds me a bit of the story made by Mitt Romney’s campaign in March. He made a slip of tongue by likening the shift of his boss’s political tactics to an "Etch A Sketch."
“Despite Mitt Romney's big win in Illinois, his campaign is on the defensive after one of his senior advisers told CNN: "I think ... It's almost like an Etch A Sketch - you can kind of shake it up and we start all over again”. – NPR Mar 21, 2012
I saw the case of Blackberry being used as a verb too.
Can I use “Etch A Sketch” as a verb to mean ‘flip flop’ in such a way as “My boss always etches a sketch his words”? Is it understood by many or few Americans?
Most Americans know what an Etch-a-Sketch is, but I think very few would interpret the saying:
My boss always Etch-a-Sketches his words.
to mean that he changes his mind a lot. In fact, if I heard that saying, and had to venture a guess, I might think it means that he's not very eloquent. (It's easy to draw straight lines with an Etch-a-Sketch, but fluid curves are very difficult, which makes it very difficult to spell out even basic words.)
You could still use the toy as an analogy to flip-flopping, though – you'd just have to be more specific:
My boss changes his position as easily as an Etch-a-Sketch gets erased.
Such a sentence might even carry the connotation that he changes his mind under pressure (i.e., when he is shaken).
I'm a Brit and also know what Etch-a-Sketch is but I would never have guessed what to 'Etch-a-Sketch' might mean.
I note that, in the quote from Romney's advisor, he added an clarification immediately. Without that I think it would have been meaningless.