Regional dialect, I guess. I had no idea what a weedeater was until I saw the pic. That, my friend, is a weed whacker. It whacks. It does not eat.
It the branding thing. Weedeater up here is the same as Kleenex. A very common brand name that gets applied to items of the same purpose.
I just spent 2 hours cleaning the carb, replacing the fuel lines, filters & spark plug on a borrowed Ryobi whacker. Put it back together, started to prime it & the foogin' priming bubble split :/ Just talked to me brother, who borrowed it from his friend. Dude bought it for $5 at a garage sale. I've dumped $45 & 2 hours of my life into it.
That makes sense. I didn't know it was a brand name. Edit: Makes even more sense after I think about it a second. I thought "Kubota" was a non English language word for "tractor" until I was in my teens. The old man had one he painted without the brand name on the side and he always referenced, "the Kubota" when he told me to do something.
I did the same kinda fix once, except I used 1/6 aircraft cable that I had kicking around. That stuff lasted forever.
And she is 100% my pit boss. All she wants to know is what tire pressure I want. I never worry about anything else. Warmers, stands, sandwiches, drinks, fans, fuel, the complete ordeal, she does. She loves it as much as I.