Talk:Vicks

Ecstasy users

Vicks is also popular among ecstasy users, who generally rub the cream underneath the eyes.

If that is true, with what purpose? - Stormwatch 22:43, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

The above mentioned statement was unverifiable. However, concentrating the vapors to heighten the effects of Ecstasy is well documented. This entry has been updated to reflect consistent findings of use patterns among Ecstasy users. --Herbox 03:46, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

Old Vicks container

I have an old Vicks Vaporub "container" from way back; my grandfather bought it many years ago and it's still potent. It was bought sometime way before 1990 as it was still made by "Vick Chemical Company" instead of P&G.

It has no metric measurement of the product on the label, and the ingredients mention a "myristica oil" which I assume is Nutmeg oil. It is contained in a blue glass with the letters "VAPORUB 60" on the bottom. A two digit year, perhaps?

Anyway, I'll try to get a picture of it soon, as the Label is fading on me. 71.8.66.194 02:54, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

I have a very old Vaporub jar in my medicine cabinet that says Vick Chemical Company "div of Richardson-Merrell Inc. New York NY 10017"...I know Richardson-Merrell moved to Connecticut in the 1970s,divided into Richardson-Vicks and Merrell Dow in 1982,and Richardson-Vicks was sold to P&G in 1985.12.144.5.2 (talk) 05:41, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Made in India

My Vicks VapoRub is made in India instead of Mexico. I wonder if the Mexican packaging is limited to States only? LittleWhisky 14:02, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

"It is an Ayurveda medicine..." In what respect? Sergeirichard (talk) 07:52, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

I hear this stuff works on toe nail fungus, just as good as athletes foot cream. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.181.55.145 (talk) 04:09, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Mom cured hers with it. Should be added. 74.129.68.132 (talk) 07:27, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

German pronunciation

"V" is not pronounced as "F" in Germany, it is pronounced as "W". This would make "Vicks" sound like wichs which is singular imperative of verb wichsen, which means, among archaic things pertaining to wax, in today's vocabulary, to masturbate. Especially since I don't think the inline citation number 2 actually verifies the existing paragraph pertaining to the German brand name's purpose, given I cannot find an explanation for the name on the linked site and it instead seems like original research or an opinion, I think this should be changed with an actual citation linking to a proper source stating the real reason or removed, as the current paragraph is erroneous speculation at best. DraegerChem (talk) 19:55, 7 August 2025 (UTC)

On the contrary, a German speaker would...

- pronounce the letter "V" like an English "F" (as in von, viel, etc.).

- pronounce the letter "W" like an English "V" (as in Wilhelm, Wetter, etc.).

So retaining the spelling "Vicks" for the German-speaking market would have prompted a German speaker to say "ficks", which is very close to the German word for "fuck". And "Vick" would come out as "fick", which is the singular imperative of "ficken", meaning "fuck".

The "Wick" spelling actually used on the German-speaking market prompts a German speaker to pronounce the name as we would in English, i.e. as "vick". Presumably, this was felt to be sufficiently far removed from the German word "wichs", which is indeed the singular imperative of the verb "wichsen", meaning "wank".

Now, all of the above linguistic stuff can be verified from online dictionaries (for the meanings of the words) and any resource that explains how the letters "V" and "W" are pronounced in German.

The explanation given is therefore correct, although it would be more accurate to say that "wichs" corresponds to "wank", rather than "wanking" (I have now corrected that).

However.

This still doesn't give us a source indicating that the above is the actual reason for the "Wick" spelling in Germany, although that is indeed the only logical reason. The German Wikipedia article gives the following as its source for that reasoning: Dagmar Neuendorff; Christopher Michael Schmidt: Sprache, Kultur und Zielgruppen: Bedingungsgrößen für die Kommunikationsgestaltung in der Wirtschaft. DUV 2007, ISBN 978-3-8350-6092-0, p. 163. However, this is a book, and does not seem to be available online, so I haven't been able to see exactly what it says. UrsusMaximus (talk) 12:57, 27 August 2025 (UTC)