brand name-droppingn.
Attempting to impress others by frequently mentioning the brand names of goods that one owns.
Example Citation:
DotComGuy's year-long experiment in self-imposed isolation, e-commerce and brand-name dropping has finally come to an end - and he's richer only in experience.
—Joseph Gallivan, "DotComGuy leaves home," The New York Post, January 3, 2001
Earliest Citation:
Pat Kramer (Lily Tomlin) is an ordinary, upwardly mobile, southern California housewife, much like her brand-name-dropping neighbors in the suburban community of Tasty Meadows.
—Vincent Canby, "Film: Lily Tomlin, Shrinking Woman," The New York Times, January 30, 1981
Notes:
This phrase — a play on name-dropping (1950) — has been showing up sporadically in the media for a while now.
