Dec 31, 2008

People Etymology

Here are a few words in the English language that have been named for people. This list consists of widely-used words which are obviously named after specific people. You'll be surprised to find words like, bloomer, maudlin, namby-pamby, tarmac and tawdry having their origins in men and women of yesteryears. Smile Enjoy!!!

oh! and add on more if you know, in comments.


  • ALDRIN Kurt Alder (1902-1958), American chemist

  • ALGORITHM al-Khowarizmi (c800 - c850), Arab mathematician. This term, which means "rules for computing" in English, comes from al-Khowarizmi (Try saying it fast), an Arab mathematician living around A.D. 825 who completed the earliest known work in arithmetic using Arabic numerals. He was the first to establish rules for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing with the new Arabic numerals.

  • AUGUST Augustus Caesar (63 B.C. - A. D. 14)

  • BAKELITE Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944), Belgian-born American chemist

  • BÉCHAMEL SAUCE Marquis Louis de Béchamel (d.1703), steward of Louis XIV of France

  • BEEF STROGANOFF Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganoff (1772-1817), Russian diplomat

  • BEGONIA Michel Bégon (1638-1710), French patron of botany

  • BLOODY MARY Mary I Tudor (1516-1558), English queen (probably)

  • BLOOMER Amanda Bloomer or Amelia Jenkins Bloomer (1818-1894), American feminist

  • BOUGAINVILLEA Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811), French explorer

  • BOYCOTT Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897), English land agent

  • BOYSENBERRY Rudolph Boysen, American botanist

  • BUHLWORK A. C. Boule (1642-1732), French cabinet maker

  • BUNKUM, BUNK Col. Edward Buncombe, Revolutionary War hero, This word actually comes from the name of Buncombe County, North Carolina; the county was named in honor of Col. Edward Buncombe, a Revolutionary War hero. The word originated after the congressman from that county defended an irrelevant speech in Congress by claiming that he was speaking to Buncombe.

  • BUNSEN BURNER Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (1811-99), German chemist

  • CAESAREAN SECTION Gaius Julius Caesar, who according to legend was born in this manner

  • CAESAR SALAD Cesar Cardini, Tijuana, Mexico restaurateur

  • CAMELLIA George Josef Kamel (1661-1706), Moravian Jesuit missionary

  • CARDIGAN James Thomas Brudnell, 7th Earl of Cardigan (1797-1868), British cavalry officer

  • CASANOVA Giovanni Jacopo Casanova de Seingalt (1725-98), Italian adventurer

  • DAHLIA Anders Dahl (1751-1789), Swedish botanist

  • DECIBEL Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

  • DERBY Edward Stanley, 12th earl of Derby, founded the race, 1870

  • DIESEL Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913), German automotive designer

  • DOBERMAN PINSCHER Ludwig Dobermann, 19th century German dog breeder

  • DOILY Mr. Doyley, a 17th century London draper

  • DOLOMITE Deodat de Dolomieu (1750-1801), French geologist

  • DRACONIAN Draco, Athenian lawgiver, circa 650 B. C.

  • DUNCE John Duns Scotus (c. 1265-1308), Scottish theologian (who was actually very smart)

  • EGGS BENEDICT Commodore E. C. Benedict (1834-1920), American yachtsman and banker

  • EPICURE Epicurus (342?-270 B. C.), Greek philosopher

  • EUSTACHIAN TUBE Bartolommeo Eustachio (1524-1574), Italian anatomist

  • FALLOPIAN TUBE Gabriel Fallopius (1523-1562), Italian anatomist

  • FERRIS WHEEL George Washington Gale Ferris (1859-96), American engineer

  • FRANGIPANI Marquis Frangipani, 16th century Italian nobleman

  • FREESIA Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese (d. 1876), German physician

  • FRISBEE William Russell Frisbie, pie shop owner in Bridgeport CT

  • FUCHSIA Leonard Fuchs (1501-1566), German botanist

  • GALVANIZE Luigi Galvani (1739-1798), Italian physiologist

  • GARDENIA Alexander Garden (1730-91), Scottish-American botanist

  • GARIBALDI Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82), Italian patriot and soldier

  • GREENGAGE Sir William Gage (1777-1864), English botanist

  • GROG Old Grog, nickname of Sir Edward Vernon (1684-1757), British admiral

  • GUILLOTINE Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814), French physician

  • GUPPY Robert J. L. Guppy (1836-1916), British scientist from Trinidad

  • GUY Guy Fawkes (1570-1606), British terrorist

  • HANSOM Joseph Aloysius Hansom (1803-82), English architect

  • HAVELOCK Sir Henry Havelock (1795-1857), British general in India

  • HOBSON’S CHOICE Thomas Hobson (1544-1631), English liveryman

  • JACQUARD Joseph Marie Jacquard, 18th cent. French inventor

  • JACUZZI Roy Jacuzzi and Candido Jacuzzi (1903-1986), American inventors

  • JEROBOAM Jeroboam, first king of the northern kingdom of Israel

  • JULY Gaius Julius Caesar (c. 101 - 44 B. C.)

  • KLIEG LIGHT John H. (1869-1959) and Anton T. Kleigl (1872-1927), American lighting experts

  • KNICKERBOCKERS Dietrich Knickerbocker, pseudonym of Washington Irving (1783-1859), American author

  • LEOTARD Jules Léotard (1839-70), French acrobat

  • LEVIS Levi Strauss (1830-1902), Bavarian immigrant to the USA and clothing merchant

  • LOBELIA Matthias de Lobel (1538-1616), Flemish botanist and physician

  • LOBSTER NEWBURG Ben Wenberg According to Dictionary of Words and Phrases by William and Mary Morris, the term is named for Ben Wenberg, a West Indies ship captain who came up with this dish by adding the ingredient cayenne to his famous recipe at Delmonico's Hotel. As the story goes, Mr. Wenberg had a falling out with the hotel owner, who, as revenge, reversed the first three letters of a dish which had previously been called Lobster Wenberg; hence, "Lobster Newberg."

  • LOGANBERRY Judge James H. Logan (1841-1928), horticulturist in California

  • LUDDITE Ned Ludd, 18th cent. Leicestershire workman who destroyed machinery (see note below)

  • LYNCH Capt. William Lynch (1742-1820), plantation owner in Virginia

  • MACADAMIA NUT John Macadam (1827-1865), Australian scientist

  • MACH Ernst Mach (1838-1916), Austrian physicist

  • MACKINTOSH Charles Macintosh (1766-1843), inventor of the waterproofing process

  • MAGNOLIA Pierre Magnol (1638-1715), French botanist

  • MANSARD François Mansart (1598-1666), French architect

  • MARIGOLD Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus

  • MASOCHISM Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895), Austrian novelist

  • MAUDLIN Mary Magdalene, Biblical figure

  • MAUSOLEUM Mausolus, 4th century B. C. king of Caria, Asia Minor

  • MAVERICK Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803-1870), Texas cattle owner

  • MELBA TOAST and PEACH MELBA Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931), Australian soprano

  • MENNONITE Menno Simons (1492-1559), Dutch religious reformer

  • MESMERIZE Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), Austrian physician
  • MORSE CODE Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), American artist and inventor

  • NAMBY-PAMBY Nickname of Ambrose Philips (1674-1749), English poet

  • NICOTINE Jean Nicot (c. 1530 - 1600), French ambassador to Portugal

  • OSCAR Oscar Pierce, American wheat and fruit grower and uncle of an Academy executive director

  • PAP SMEAR George Papanicolaou (1883-1962), American physician

  • PASTEURISE Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), French chemist

  • PAVLOVA Anna Pavlova (1881-1931), Russian ballerina

  • PLATONIC Plato (c. 427-347 BC), Greek philosopher

  • POINSETTIA Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779-1851), U. S. minister to Mexico

  • PRALINE César de Choiseul, Count Plessis-Praslin (1598-1675), French soldier and diplomat

  • PULLMAN George Mortimer Pullman (1831-97), American inventor

  • PYRRHIC Pyrrus (c. 318 - 272 B. C.), king of Epirus, who overextended himself

  • QUISLING Maj. Vidkun Abraham Quisling (1887-1945), pro-Nazi Norwegian leader

  • RASTAFARIAN Ras Tafari, precoronation name of Haile Selassie (1892-1975), Emperor of Ethiopia

  • RICKETTSIA Howard T. Ricketts (1871-1910), American pathologist

  • RORSCHACH TEST Hermann Rorschach (1884-1922), Swiss psychiatrist

  • RITZY César Ritz (1850-1918), Swiss hotelier

  • SADISM Count Donatien Alphonse François de Sade (1740-1814), French soldier and novelist

  • SALISBURY STEAK James J. Salisbury, 19th century English physician

  • SALMONELLA Daniel Elmer Salmon (1850-1914), American veterinarian

  • SANDWICH John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-92), English diplomat

  • SAXOPHONE Antoine-Joseph Sax, also known as Adolphe Sax (1814-1894), Belgian inventor

  • SEQUOIA Sequoya (c. 1770-1843), Cherokee Indian who invented the Cherokee syllabary

  • SHRAPNEL Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842), British army officer

  • SIDEBURNS Gen. Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-1881), Union soldier

  • SILHOUETTE Etienne de Silhouette (1709-1767), French minister of finance in 1759

  • SPOONERISM Rev. William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), of New College, Oxford

  • SOUSAPHONE John Phillip Sousa (1854-1932), American composer and bandleader

  • STETSON John Bauerson Stetson (1830-1906), American hat-maker

  • TARMAC John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836), Scottish engineer (the word is short for "tarmacadam")

  • TAWDRY St. Audrey (St. Etheldreda, c. 630 - 679), queen of Northumbria

  • TEDDY BEAR Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), U. S. president

  • TETRAZZINI Luisa Tetrazzini (1874-1940), Italian opera singer

  • THESPIAN Thespis, 6th century B. C. Greek poet

  • TIMOTHY GRASS Timothy Hanson, 18th century American farmer (probably)

  • TOMMY GUN Gen. John Taliaferro Thompson (1860-1940), U. S. soldier

  • TONTINE Lorenzo Tonti (1620-1695), Neopolitan banker

  • TUPPERWARE Earl Silas Tupper (1907-1983), American landscaper and inventor

  • UZI Uziel Gal (1923-2002), Israeli inventor

  • VALENTINE Valentine, 3rd century Christian martyr

  • VERNIER Pierre Vernier (1580-1637), French mathematician

  • WELLINGTON BOOT Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), British soldier and statesman

  • WISTERIA Caspar Wistar (1761-1818), American physician

  • ZEPPELIN Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917), German general and aeronautical pioneer

  • ZINNIA Johann Gottfried Zinn (1727-1759), German botanist


    • Dec 31, 2008 - Wise Words for the Day
    " He drew a circle that shut me out
    heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
    But love and I had the wit to win,
    we drew a circle that took him in."
    --- Edwin Markham, Outwitted

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    Dec 24, 2008

    "Tom Swifties" - a development in Wellerism.

    Wellerism is an expression of comparison comprising a usually well-known quotation followed by a facetious sequel. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable defines Wellerism thusly:

    Sam Weller in Charles Dickens' "Pickwick Papers" (1836-7) was prone to producing punning sentences such as:

    'Out with it, as the father said to the child when he swallowed a farden [farthing]'.

    This type of verbal play, involving a metaphorical and a punningly literal sense, soon gained popularity under the name of wellerism, and a craze for devising such expressions rapidly sprang up on both sides of the Atlantic. A crude example familiar to children is:

    'I see, said the blind man, when he couldn't see at all.'

    or

    "'It all comes back to me now', said the Captain as he spat into the wind."

    ****

    Tom Swifty :
    A Tom Swifty is a Wellerism in which an adverb relates both properly and punningly to a sentence of reported speech. For example:
    "The doctor had to remove my left ventricle," said Tom half-heartedly.
    explaination: half-heartedly = half of a heart. [A heart is composed of a left and right ventricle] Hence the above sentence is a "Tom Swifty".
    or
    "Your Honour, you're crazy!" said Tom judgementally.
    explaination: judge (= your honour) + mental (= crazy) + ly.

    **

    Etymology of Tom Swifty:
    The quip takes its name from Tom Swift, a boy's adventure hero created by the prolific American writer Edward L. Stratemeyer. Under the pseudonym Victor Appleton, he published a series of books featuring the young Tom Swift. Tom Swift rarely passed a remark without a qualifying adverb as "Tom added eagerly" or "Tom said jokingly". The play on words discussed here arose as a pastiche of this, coming to be known by the term Tom Swifty.

    ####

    In a true Tom Swifty, it is an adverb (word specifying the mode of action of the verb) that provides the pun, as in the following example:
    "I swallowed some of the glass from that broken window," Tom said painfully.
    explaination: pain (like 'pane' = window glass) + full (= full stomach) + y.

    ####

    But frequently the pun occurs in the verb, and there may not be an adverb at all. Strictly speaking such puns are not Tom Swifties, but they are generally included in the term. For example:
    "My garden needs another layer of mulch," Tom repeated.
    explaination: re (= again / another) + peat (= mulch) + ed.

    ####

    And sometimes it is neither a verb, nor an adverb, but a short phrase (usually acting like an adverb in modifying the verb) For example:
    "I've only enough carpet for the hall and landing," said Tom with a blank stare.
    explaination: blank (= uncovered) + stare (like 'stair' = staircase).

    ####

    Traditionally Tom is the speaker, but this is by no means necessary for the pun to classify as a Tom Swifty. Sometimes the pun lies in the name, in which case it will usually not be Tom speaking. For example:
    "I'm going to end it all," Sue sighed.
    explaination: Sue sighed (like 'suicide' = to kill oneself).

    ####

    Many – probably most – Tom Swifties are morphological; i.e. the words must be broken down into morphemes (smaller components) to understand the pun. This is true for many of the examples on this page, and is illustrated particularly well by this example :
    "This is the real male goose," said Tom producing the propaganda.
    explaination: propa (like 'proper' = real) + ganda (like 'gander' = male goose).

    ####

    Often the adverb (or whatever) has a homonym (a word which is pronounced, and perhaps spelled, the same, but has a different meaning) which leads to the punning meaning of the sentence. For example :
    "I have a split personality," said Tom, being frank.
    explaination: frank (= open, man's name).


    Dec 24, 2008 - Wise Words For the Day

    Empty-handed I entered the world
    barefoot I leave it.
    My coming, my going-
    Two simple happenings
    That got entangled.
    -- Kozan Ichikyo.
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    Dec 22, 2008

    Haddock's Curses

    Tintin comics have a peculiar trademark in the form of Captain Haddock's colourful exclamations, that he hurls out every time he gets in a rage.

    History: At the time Captain Haddock was first introduced, just before the second world war, his manners presented a moral problem to Hergé. As a sailor, Haddock ought to have a very colorful language. Yet as he was to appear in a Catholic children's magazine, he obviously was forbidden to use any swearwords. Sollution came one night when Hergé (Author of Tintin) overheard a political argument amongst two passer-by's in the street. In the heat of the discussion one of the persons became so enraged that he lost his contenance for a moment and started yelling at his companion "You... You... You peace-pamphlet yourselves". This was the solution Hergé sought: what if the captain would use strange or difficult words that were not offensive in themselves, but would hurl them out as if they were very strong cusswords... (This would also add a comical note by portraying the captain as a pseudo-intellectual who loves to use difficult words without really knowing what they mean.)

    From the simple ("dogs!", "rats!") to the scientific ("pithecanthropuses!") to the sublime ("vegetarian!"), you will just love Captain Haddock of Tintin fame for his unique turn of phrase. I have made bold the ones that I love from the following list.
    • Pirates!
    • Doryphores!
    • Gobbledygooks!
    • Filibusters!
    • Slubberdegullions!
    • Patagonians!
    • Vampires!
    • Sycophant!
    • Kleptomaniacs!
    • Egoists!
    • Tramps!
    • Monopolizers!
    • Pockmarks!
    • Belemnite!
    • Crooks!
    • Miserable earthworms!
    • Coconuts!
    • Harlequin!
    • Parasites!
    • Macrocephalic baboon!
    • Brutes!
    • Guano gatherer!
    • Pachyrhizus!
    • Toads!
    • Gyroscope!
    • Bougainvillea!
    • Bloodsuckers!
    • Nincompoop!
    • Shipwreckers!
    • Cyclone!
    • Gallows-fodder!
    • Politician!
    • Baboon!
    • Torturers!
    • Fuzzy-wuzzy!
    • Blackbird!
    • Mountebanks!
    • Cannibal!
    • Duck-billed platypus!
    • Black-beetles!
    • Ruffian!
    • Vermicellis!
    • Lily-livered bandicoots!
    • Rats!
    • Logarithm!
    • Cro-Magnon!
    • Freshwater swabs!
    • Beasts!
    • Bully!
    • Anthropophagus!
    • Pithecanthropuses!
    • Savages!
    • Gangsters!
    • Wreckers!
    • Vandal!
    • Carpet-sellers!
    • Numbskulls!
    • Gang of thieves!
    • Slave-trader!
    • Picaroons!
    • Visigoths!
    • Toffee-noses! Wink
    • Anacoluthons!
    • Hydrocarbon!
    • Technocrat!
    • Buccaneer!
    • Traitors!
    • Caterpillars!
    • Odd-toed ungulate!
    • Woodlice!
    • Polynesian!
    • Swine!
    • Blackguards!
    • Vegetarian! Big Grin
    • Dizzards!
    • Fancy-dress freebooters!
    • Centipede!
    • Sea-lice!
    • Ectoplasm!
    • Fat faces!
    • Artichokes!
    • Troglodytes!
    • Turncoats!
    • Bashi-bazouks!
    • Olympic Athlete!
    • Ectoplasmic Byproduct!
    • Balkan Beetle!
    • Two-timing Tartar Twisters!
    • Terrapins!
    • Breathalyser!
    • Profiteers!
    • Abecedarians!
    • Vulture!
    • Phylloxera!
    • Dogs!
    • Hooligans!
    • Steamrollers!
    • Body-snatcher!
    • Ostrogoth!
    • Brigand!
    • Heretic!
    • Blackamoor!
    • Anthracite!
    • Black marketeers!
    • Ophicleides!
    • Dynamiter!
    • Pickled herrings!
    • Gibbering ghost!
    • Corsair!
    • Moujiks!
    • Rhizopods!
    • Bootlegger!
    • Gogglers!
    • Villain!
    • Aborigine!
    • Bagpipers!
    • Pyrographers!
    • Crab-apples!
    • Goosecaps!
    • Aztecs!
    • Paranoiac!
    • Twister!
    • Vagabonds!
    • Sea-gherkins!
    • Road-hogs!
    • Hi-jackers!
    • Zapotecs!
    • Cercopithecus!
    • Toads!
    • Psychopath!
    • Nest of rattlesnakes!
    • Jellied-eel!
    • Liquorice!
    • Coelacanth!
    • Invertebrate!
    • Nyctalops!
    • Mameluke!
    • Dipsomaniac!
    • Diplodocus!
    • Cowards!
    • Megalomaniac!
    • Highwayman!
    • Autocrats!
    • Bandit!
    • Nitwits!
    • Polygraphs!
    • Iconoclast!
    • Orangoutang!
    • Squawking popinjay! LOL
    • Prattling porpoise!
    • Scoffing braggart!
    • Ten Thousand Thundering Typhoons Eek
    • Blue Blistering Bell-Bottomed Balderdash!
    • Cushion footed quadrupeds!
    • Fancy-dress Facist!
    Check, this french site for a list of curses along with the names of comics they feature in.

    Haddock Trivia:
    • In Tintin and the Picarros, Captain Haddock does not complete one of his curses - Miserable blundering barbecued blister... (One can only imagine what could be coming!)
    • When Haddock attempts to cure Calculus of his amnesia by scaring him via dressing up as a ghost, he trips on the bedsheet, and as he's struggling to free himself, he screams "Ten Thousand Terrifying Turtles!" Trying to picture what 10,000 terrifying turtles would look like had could have anyone on the floor in fits of laughter.
    • In Iran, Tintin was published in Farsi. The Farsi pronounciation of Haddock's name is 'Kapitaan Haadook'.
    • Bashi bazouk - this term was originally applied in Turkey to non-uniformed soldiers. It literally means a savage and brutal ruffian, and was popularized by Captain Haddock.
    • According to the book "Le Petit Haddock Illustré", Captain Haddock might have said more than 220 curses during all the adventures.
    • In one particularly angry state, Hergé had the captain yell the 'cussword' Pneumotorax (An inflatable ring placed inside the windpipe of tuberculosis patients to help them keep their airflow, 1930's style medicine). One week after the scene appeared in Tintin Magazine, Hergé received a letter from a father whose boy was a great fan of Tintin, but also was a heavy tuberculosis sufferer and had precisely such a pneumothorax inserted. According to the letter the boy was devastated that his favorite comic made fun of his own condition. Afterwards it turned out that the letter was a fake written and planted by Hergé's own studio workers (One source mentions Bob de Moor) and when this came out soft-spoken Hergé was just as devastated by his 'betrayal' as the boy of the letter allegedly was.

    Wise Words of the Day :

    "Survey the circling stars, as though yourself were in mid-course with them. Often picture the changing and rechanging dance of the elements. Visions of this kind purge away the dross of our earth-bound life."
    -- Marcus Aurelius (121-180).
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    Dec 4, 2008

    Language & Philosophy

    The written word from time immemorial has been used to express both the inherent and the suggestive meaning. This post is a find from Paulo Coelho's book, Manual for the Warrior of Light, a Harper Collins Publication, that suggests a philosophical sentiment that each of us can stand true to.

    THE SMALL WORDS
    The warrior knows that the most important words in all languages are the small words.
    YES. LOVE. GOD.
    They are words that are easy enough to say and which fill vast empty spaces.
    There is however one word - another small word - that many people have great difficulty in saying : NO.
    Someone who never says 'no' thinks of himself as generous, understanding, polite, because 'no' is thought of as being nasty, selfish, unspiritual. The warrior does not fall into this trap. There are times when, in saying 'yes' to others he is actually saying 'no' to himself.
    That is why he never says 'yes' with his lips if, in his heart, he is saying 'no'.


     Dec 4th 2008 - Wise Words for The Day
    "Human consciousness arose but a minute before midnight on the geological clock. Yet we mayflies try to bend an ancient world to our purposes, ignorant perhaps of the messages buried in its long history."
    -- Stephen Jay Gould, "Our Allotted Lifetimes," The Panda's Thumb, 1980
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