(BTW, "Sans Serif" usually isn't an actual font name, but rather the name of a font family, to which Helvetica belongs, for example...)
Good point about "sans-serif", however, typographically speaking, Helvetica is not the "font," but the "face." The typeface is the name of the family, e.g., Helvetica, Georgia, Arial; but the font is the attribute, or variation of a particular typeface, e.g., bold, condensed, italic.
—Brad
"The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men." George Eliot