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LINKS: Discussions Archives Dictionary HOME |
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Wordcraft Eponyms |
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578 entries |
We are now the net's biggest
collection of general eponyms! |
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GREEN: items added April 18, 2004 |
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abigail |
Abigail, a
character in Beaumont & Fletcher's "The Scornful Lady"
(mid-1600s) |
a lady's maid |
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abishag |
Abishag, young
woman brought to King David, trying to "revive" him in old age. I
Kings 1-2 |
a child of a woman by a man married to another [a
very rare word, not in OED] |
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academy; academic |
choose your source: Plato's "academy"
was owned by Akademus, or was named for legendary Akadamos,
who told where the abducted Helen of Troy been hidden. |
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Achilles' heel |
Achilles, Gk
hero in the Iliad |
a seemingly small but actually crucial weakness |
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Adamite |
Adam, in
the Bible |
going naked (like Adam) for God |
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adonis |
Adonis, a strikingly
beautiful youth loved by Aphrodite in Gk myth |
a very handsome young man |
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alfonsin; alphonsin |
Alfonse
Ferri, a surgeon of Naples, who invented it (1552) |
a surgical instrument for extracting bullets from
wounds |
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algorism |
al-Khwarizmi,
Arab mathemetician died ~850 |
use of the Arabic number system (rather than,
say, Roman numerals) |
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algorithm |
al-Khwarizmi,
Arab mathemetician died ~850. His name gave us "algorism"
(see above), which led to "algorithm" |
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alice blue |
Alice Roosevelt
Longworth (1884–1980), daughter of US Pres. Theodore Roosevelt |
a pale grayish-blue color |
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Alice in Wonderland |
Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll |
illusory; unreal |
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Alphonse and Gaston |
Alphonse and Gaston, comic strip characters created by Frederic Burr
Opper (1905) |
two people who treat each other with excessive,
often self-defeating deference |
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Alzheimer's disease |
Alois Alzheimer,
Ger neurologist 1864–1915 |
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amazon |
Amazons, a tribe of warrior women in classical legend |
a tall, aggressive, strong-willed woman |
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America |
Mapmaker Martin Waldseemüller accepted Amerigo
Vespucci's (1454–1512) claim to have discovered the New World |
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amethyst |
Nymph Amethyst, when pursued by the god of wine, was changed
into this gem to protect her |
[gem was believed to prevent drunkenness; the
name means "not intoxicating''] |
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ammonia |
from sal
ammoniac, which in turn are salt deposits
containing ammonium chloride found near temple of Jupiter Ammon in
Libya |
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Amphitryon |
King Amphitryon in Greek myth. Became eponym from Moliere's
line, "Le veritable Amphitryon est l'Amphitryon ou l'on dine." |
a generous entertainer; a good host |
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Anacreontic |
Anacreon, Gk
poet noted praising love and wine (563?–478? BC) |
erotic; convivial; such a song or poem |
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ananias |
Ananias, early Christian
struck dead for lying (Acts 4-5) |
a liar |
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Annie Oakley |
Annie Oakley,
Amer sharpshooter (1860–1926), star attraction of Buffalo Bill's Wild West
Show |
a free ticket or pass (compares a punched ticket
with target full of bullet holse) |
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Antaean |
Gk Antaeus,
a mythical giant whom Hercules overcame |
mammoth,
or of superhuman strength |
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aphrodisiac |
Aphrodite, Gk
goddess of love and beauty |
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Apician |
Apicius (Apicianus), a notorious Roman gourmand |
epicurean; peculiarly dainty in food |
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apollonian |
Apollo, Gk god |
harmonious, measured,
restrained |
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April |
the month of Venus, Roman
version of Gk Aphrodite (perh. through Etruscan version Apru) |
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argus |
Argos, a
hundred-eyed monster of Gk legend |
a watchful guardian (Argus-eyed = vigilantly observant) |
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argyle |
Argyle, branch
of the Scottish clan of Campbell |
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aristarch |
Aristarchus
of Samothrace, Greek scholar and critic, ~200 BC |
a severe critic (adj.: aristarchian) |
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athenaeum |
ultimately from Gk meaning the "temple of Athena" |
a place with print materials to read; or, an
institution to promote learning (e.g. a literary or science club, or a
library) |
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atlas |
Atlas, titan
in Gk mythology |
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augean |
Augeas, legendary
Gk king who did not clean his stable for thirty years; Hecules took on the
job |
utterly filthy from long neglect; requiring
heroic efforts of cleaning |
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August |
named by Augustus Caesar
for himself; in this month occurred many fortunate events of his career |
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aurora |
Aurora, Roman
goddess of dawn |
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axel |
Axel
Paulsen, Norwegian figure skater (1856–1938) |
a kind of jump in figure skating |
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Babbitt |
George Babbitt,
character in the Sinclair Lewis
novel Babbitt (1922) |
a business or professional man who conforms
unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards |
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babbitt metal |
Isaac Babbitt,
Am inventor died 1862 |
alloy used for lining bearings |
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Bacchanal |
Bacchus, Roman
god of wine |
a
drunken feast; an orgy |
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Baedeker |
Karl Baedeker (1801–1859), Ger publisher who established a
series of guidebooks in 1829 |
a guidebook to countries or a country |
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bakelite |
Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944), Amer, its
inventor |
tradename of an early,
successful plastic |
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balmy; barmy (crazy) |
most say from 'barm' (beer
foam). But Ciardi convincingly traces
it to St. Bartholomew's ward for the non-violent insane at the hospital
noted under 'bedlam'. 'Bartholomew' contracted to 'barmy'. |
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bant |
William Banting (1797-1878), Eng,
authored Letter on Corulence (1869) |
to diet, esp. a high-protein,
low-carbohydrate diet |
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Barmecide; Barmecide feast |
Barmecide, a
wealthy Persian in The Arabian Nights, who invited a beggar to a feast of
imaginary food |
providing only the illusion of abundance |
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barnumize |
P. T. Barnum, US showman who popularized the circus (1810–1891)
[not yet in dictionaries] |
to advertise or promote by exaggerated claims and
hyperbole |
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baroque |
arguably from Federigo Barocci
(~1530-1612), Ital artist |
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Bartlett pear |
Enoch Bartlett, Am (1779–1860), who developed and popularized it |
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batty |
prob. from "bats in the belfry", but
some sources say it is an eponym from Fitzherbert Batty, a prominent but
eccentric Eng barrister in Jamaica who was certified as insane in 1839 |
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beau brummell |
George Bryan ("Beau") Brummell,
Englishman (1778 - 1840) |
a dandy; a fop |
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béchamel sauce |
Louis de Béchamel
(1603-1703), steward of Louis XIV of Fr |
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bedlam |
asylum for the insane at London's Hospital of St.
Mary of Bethlehem, which popular speech shortened to
"bedlam" |
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begonia |
Michel Bégon,
Fr governor of Haiti (1638–1710) |
a flower common in gardening |
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belcher |
scarf which Jim (Jem?) Belcher
(1781–1822), champion Brit. boxer, regularly wore, knotted suavely about the
neck |
a small blue scarf with white dots |
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benedict |
Benedick,
character in Shakespeare's Much
Ado About Nothing |
a former newly married man who was previously a
confirmed bachelor |
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Benedict Arnold |
Benedict Arnold, traitorous Am Revolutionary general (1741–1801) |
a traitor (I do not find this in dictionaries as
a word, but it is common in the press.) |
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Big Bertha |
Bertha Krupp,
daughter of Ger arms maker Alfred Krupp (husband Gustav changed his surname
to Krupp). Originally 'Fat Bertha'. |
a huge "mobile" long-range Ger gun in
WWI. Now used as a name for a golf club. |
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biro |
László Biró,
Hungarian, its inventor |
ball point pen (trademark?) |
|
bishop (verb) |
"From the name of the
scoundrel who first practiced it" |
to file down a horse's teeth
to hide its age |
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black maria |
some suggest Maria
Lee, black Boston woman ~1825, who helped to round those who occupied of the
wagon |
a patrol wagon to round up
criminals and drunks |
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bloody mary |
Queen Mary I (1553–1558) whose persecution of Protestants earned
her the nickname "Bloody Mary" |
a cocktail made with vodka and spicy tomato juice |
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bloomers |
Amelia Jenks Bloomer, Am activist and
feminist (1818–1894), popularized such clothes |
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blucher |
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher,
(1742–1819) Prussian field marshal, defeated Napoléon at Laon, aided in
victory at Waterloo |
a type of high shoe or half
boot |
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bluebeard |
Bluebeard, a
fairy-tale character |
man who repeately marries and kills wives |
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bluestocking |
Eng botanist Benj. Stillingfleet,
too poor for proper dress, lectured to a club of literate English ladies
wearing blue worsted stockings (not black silk). Detractors called him Blue
Stockings and the group the Blue Stocking Society. |
a woman having intellectual
or literary interests |
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bobby |
Sir Robert (Bob) Peel, who organized the
London police force |
Brit.
policeman |
|
bob's your uncle |
Prime Misister Robert
Cecil (1830-1903), the uncle in question, appointed his nephew to a post |
Brit. phrase for something easily
achieved |
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Bodoni |
Giambiattista Bodoni, It printer died 1813 |
a printing type, based
on Boldoni’s designs |
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bogart |
Humphrey Bogart
(1899-1957), Amer film actor |
to hog a thing; take more
than one's share |
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Bohr bug |
persumably named for Henrik David Bohr,
Danish physicist, 1885–1962, 1922 Nobel Prize. See also schroedinbug, etc. |
computing jargon: a repeatable bug; one
manifesting reliably. antonym: heisenbug |
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bolivar |
Simón Bolívar, So. Amer liberator died 1830 |
the unit of currency
of Venezuela |
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boniface |
Boniface,
innkeeper in The
Beaux' Stratagem (1707) by George
Farquhar (1678–1707) |
the proprietor of a hotel, nightclub, or
restaurant |
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booze |
not an eponym,
but perhaps reinforced by name of Philadelphia distiller E.G. Booze,
around 1880 |
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Borachio |
perhaps taken
from Spanish; perh. taken from Borachio, a character Shakespeare's Much
Ado about Nothing |
a drunkard |
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boreal |
Boreus, Gk
god of the north wind |
of the north wind, or the north |
|
bork (verb) |
Judge Robert
H. Bork,whose confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court was blocked by
his opponents' media campaign (1987) |
to systematically attack a public figure, esp. in the
media |
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bosie |
after B.J.T. Bosanquet
(1877-1936), the first practitioner |
Australian slang: a cricket ball, bowled as if to break one way,
that breaks the opposite way |
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Boswell |
James Boswell, 1740–1795, Scot lawyer, diarist, and writer
renowned as the biographer of Samuel Johnson |
one who records the life of a famous contemporary |
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bougainvillea |
Louis Antoine de Bougainville, Fr explorer
(1729–1811), and who discovered the this plant |
a certain flowering plant, common in gardening |
|
bowdlerize |
Thomas Bowdler, Eng physician (1754–1825), published a
"family Shakespeare", expurgating wording he deemed unsuitable
(1818) |
to expurgate (a book, for example) prudishly |
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Bowie knife |
popularized by Jim Bowie,
famous US frontiersman (1796–1836)–
but apparently designed 1827 by his brother Rezin P. Bowie (1793–1841) |
a heavy hunting, fighting and
throwing knife |
|
bowler |
J. Bowler, 19c. London
hat manufacturer |
a derby hat |
|
boycott |
Charles
C. Boycott, Eng landlord died 1897, ostracized for refusing to reduce rents |
to
engage in concerted refusal to deal with |
|
braggadocio |
Braggadocchio,
character in The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser (1552–1599) |
empty,
vain bragging |
|
braille |
Louis
Braille, Fr teacher of the blind
(1809–1852) |
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brodie |
Steve Brodie, newsboy
who in 1886, on a bet, jumped off New York's Brooklyn Bridge |
"do a brodie" -
take a chance (old Amer slang) |
|
Bronx |
Jonas Bronck, the first settler in the area (died ~1643;
sometimes given as Jacob or Joseph Bronck) |
Borough of New York City, with population about
1.3 mil. |
|
Brother Jonathan |
said to
have originated from George Washington thus referring to Jonathan
Trumbull, governor of Connecticut |
the people of the United States collectively |
|
brougham |
Henry Peter Brougham, Baron Brougham
and Vaux, Scot jurist (1778–1868) |
a car, or a closed carriage,
with an open driver's seat |
|
bruin |
Bruin,
the name of the bear in medieval stories of Reynard the Fox. (see also
'chanticleer') |
a bear |
|
buckley's chance |
William Buckley,
Australian convict who, escaping in 1803, survived in the outback for 32
years |
Australian slang: remote, scant hope |
|
bumbledom |
Mr. Bumble, an officious beadle in Dickens’ Oliver Twist |
pompous self-importance and officiousness in a
minor official |
|
Bunsen burner |
Professor Robert Wilhelm Bunsen,
Ger chemist who perfected the device (1811–1899) |
a device used in chemistry, for heating |
|
burke |
William
Burke died 1829, Irish criminal smothered victims to sell intact
bodies to medical students for dissection |
to
suffocate; figuratively, to suppress quietly or indirectly |
|
burnsides |
see entry for 'sideburns' |
another term for sideburns |
|
busby |
Richard Busby
(1606-1695), headmaster of Westminster school, whose pupils included Dryden,
Lock, and Wren. |
tall ceremonial hat of some
Brit soldiers |
|
BVD |
Bradley, Vorhees
& Day, company making that product |
underwear
(tradename) |
|
Cadillac |
Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1658–1730), Fr
colonial governor who founded Detroit in 1701 |
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caesarean |
Julius Caesar, traditionally believed to have
been born thus |
a cesarean section of delivery of a baby |
|
calliope |
Calliope, the
Gk muse of epic poetry |
a musical instrument of steam whistles |
|
calliopean |
Calliope, Gk
muse of epic poetry |
piercingly loud: a calliopean voice |
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camellia |
Georg Josef Kamel, Moravian Jesuit
missionary (1661–1706) |
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cappuccino |
the Cappuchin monks, who wear a habit of the same color |
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cardigan |
7th Earl of Cardigan, Eng soldier died 1868 |
a type of sweater or jacket |
|
Casanova |
Giovanni Jacopo Casanova de
Seingalt, Ital adventurer who published his memoirs (1725–1798) |
a promiscuous man; or a man
amorously and gallantly attentive to women |
|
Cassandra |
Gk Kassandra,
Trojan prophetess fated never to be believed |
one
who predicts misfortune or disaster |
|
castor oil |
Castor in
Gk myth (as in Castor and Pollox). Name given to oils from the beaver, used
medicinally; carried over to the vegetable oil that replaced the beaver oil. |
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catherine wheel |
St. Catherine of
Alexandria, d.305 by torture on a wheel |
firework that forms a
rotating, flaming wheel |
|
ceasar salad |
Caesar Cardini,
Tijuana, Mexico restaurateur, created it from leftovers to serve an
unexpected crowd |
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celsius |
Anders Celsius,
Swedish astronomer (1701–1744) |
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cereal |
Ceres, Roman
goddess of agriculture |
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chanticleer |
Chanticleer,
the name of the rooster in medieval "Reynard the Fox" stories. The name means "sing loud" in
Fr. (see also 'bruin') |
a rooster |
|
chauvanism |
Nicolas Chauvin, fanatically
devoted soldier under Napoleon; became an eponym when his name was used as a
character in the Cogniard brothers' play La Cocarde Tricolore (1831) |
fanatical glorification of
one's country (not just "a generous belief
in the greatness of one's country"; "wildly extravagant" –
Prof. H. Tuttle) |
|
chesterfield |
Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th
Earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773) |
a type of sofa, large with
upholstered arms |
|
chicken à la king |
Foxhall Keene (invented by
Delmonico's restauraunt, NY; named for Keene; name changed over time) |
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chicken tetrazini |
Luisa Tetrazzini, Ital soprano |
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chimerical |
Gk. chimaira, a fabulous monster
(with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail) |
fantastic; wildly or vainly conceived;
also given to unrealistic fantasies |
|
chinchona |
countess of Chinchón,
wife of viceroy of Peru. Legend: when this bark cured her 1638 fever, she had
more collected for malaria sufferers |
the tree bark that yields quinine |
|
churrigueresque |
José Benito Churriguera, Sp architect
(1665–1725) |
baroque architectural style characterized by
elaborate surface decoration |
|
cicerone |
It Cicerone, Cicero |
a guide who conducts sightseers |
|
Cimmerian |
Gk Kimmerioi, a mythical people |
very dark or gloomy |
|
cinderella |
Cinderella, the
fairy-tale character |
one suddenly lifted from obscurity to honor or
significance |
|
Circean |
enchantress Circe of Homer's Odyssey,
who first charmed her victims and then changed them to the forms of beasts |
pleasing, but noxious; as, a Circean
draught |
|
clerihew |
Edmund Clerihew Bentley, Br writer (1875–1956) |
a witty verse, of two rhyming couplets, on a
person named in one of the rhymes |
|
cliometrics |
Clio, Gk
muse of history |
study of history using mathematical and economic
models and analysis |
|
cobb salad |
invented in 1926 by Bob Cobb,
owner of the Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles |
|
|
codswallop |
One theory: Hiram Codd,
1838-1887, Eng inventor of a type of soft-drink bottle ('wallop' being slang
for beer). |
nonsense (Brit slang) |
|
Colonel Blimp |
Colonel Blimp,
cartoon character created by David Low |
and elderly pompous reactionary |
|
colt |
Am Samuel Colt
(1814-62), its Am inventor |
a type of revolver (firearms.
trademark?) |
|
comstockery |
Anthony Comstock (1844-1915),
self-appointed Am crusader against immorality |
censorship on basis of immorality or obscenity
(coined by George Bernard Shaw) |
|
cook’s tour |
Thomas Cook, Eng travel agent (1808–1892) |
a quick tour
or survey, with attention only to the main features |
|
crapper |
Non-eponym,
but often mis-attributed to Thomas Crapper, Br plumber and inventor (1836–1910) |
toilet |
|
crisscross |
Christ’s cross, common on hornbooks in elementary education |
|
|
croesus |
legendary king Croesus of Lydia (died ~547
BC), of huge wealth |
a man of extreme wealth |
|
curry favor |
from currying Fauvel, a horse in the scathing
1310 story Roman
de Fauvel by Gervais de Bus |
Note: 'curry' means 'to groom a horse' |
|
cynic |
the Cynic philosophers
in Plato's time, called kunikos=dog-like. Was it from their sneering
sarcasm, or Kynosarge "Grey Dog," the gymnasium where they
taught? Maybe a pun, meaning both. |
|
|
czar, tsar |
from Kaiser (see
below) and thus ultimately from Julius Caesar |
|
|
Daedal |
Daedalus ("the cunning
one"), Athenian inventor in Gk myth |
cunningly made; skillful; artul; ingenious |
|
daguerreotype |
L. J. M. Daguerre, Fr. painter died 1851 |
an early type of photograph |
|
dahlia |
Anders Dahl, Swedish botanist (1751–1787) |
|
|
Dandie Dinmont |
Dandie Dinmont,
character owning such dogs in the novel Guy Mannering by Sir Walter Scott |
a certain breed of dog |
|
davenport (desk) |
Originally designed for
Captain Davenport, ship's captain, by famous firm of Gillow &
Barton, Lancaster. introduced ~1860 |
a kind of small ornamental
writing table |
|
davenport (sofa) |
Manufacturer Irving, Casson
& Davenport of Boston |
a kind of sofa |
|
Delphic |
oracle of Apollo at Delphi.
Her prophecies, like today's horoscopes, were craftily equivocal |
obscurely prophetic |
|
derby |
Edward Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby (1752–1834),
founder of the English Derby |
name transferred from person to race, and then
from race to hat worn there |
|
derrick |
(Thomas?) Derick, the hangman
of Tyburn, London, Eng ~1600
|
(originally,
a hangman or a gallows) |
|
derringer |
Henry Deringer,
19th cent. Am inventor (only one r in his name) |
a
short-barreled pocket pistol |
|
diddle |
Jeremy Diddler,
character in the successful 1803 farce Raising the Wind by James
Kenney |
originally (1806) , "to
cheat, swindle," in a small-time way. Note: dic. etymologies neglect
this point. |
|
diesel |
Rudolf Diesel, Ger engineer (1858–1913), its inventor (1892) |
|
|
dionysian |
Dionysus, Gk god |
sensuous, frenzied, or
orgiastic |
|
Dives |
character
in Bible parable, Luke 16:19-31. pronc. DIE-veez |
a rich
man |
|
Doberman |
Ludwig Doberman,
19th cent. Ger dog breeder |
a breed
of dog (the Doberman pinscher) |
|
doily |
One Mr Doiley (or possibly Doyley/Doyly), successful London draper
or milliner around 1700 |
|
|
Dolly Varden |
Dolly Varden,
a woman of colorful clothes in Dickens' Barnaby Rudge |
a type of colorfully spotted trout |
|
Don Juan |
Don Juan, legendary 14th-c Spanish nobleman and
libertine |
a seducer of women |
|
doozy |
perh. Ital actress Eleonora Duse
(1859–1924); wherever started, reinforced by Duesenberg,
expensive, classy make of automobile of the late 1920s and 1930s,
designed by Fred Duesenberg
(1876–1932) |
slang: something extraordinary or
bizarre (thus, either positive or negative) |
|
doubting Thomas |
Saint Thomas, doubted Jesus's
resurrection until he had proof |
one who is habitually doubtful |
|
Dr. Fell |
John Fell, (1625-1686), dean of
Christchurch, Oxford, who expelled Tom Brown, prompting Brown’s jingle, “I do
not like thee, Dr. Fell …” |
a senior person one dislikes,
esp. a pedant [not in dictionaries] |
|
draconian |
Draco, Gk politician who codified the laws of
Athens (~621 BC). His code was unpopular for its severity. |
exceedingly harsh; very severe:
("draconian budget cuts") |
|
draisine |
Baron von Drais, of Sauerbrun,
its inventor |
the earliest kind of bicycle |
|
Drawcansir |
Drawcansir, a character in George Villiers' play The
Rehearsal |
one source: "one who kills or
injures both friend and foe". Another: "a blustering, bullying
fellow; a pot-valiant braggart". |
|
dryasdust |
Dr. Jonas Dryasdust, a fictitious
character to whom Sir Walter Scott dedicated some of his novels |
a dull, pedantic speaker or writer |
|
dunce |
John Duns Scotus
(1265?–1308) respected Scot. theologian; his followers were dunsmen or
duns. Critics ridiculing them in 16c. used 'duns' as a negative term. |
|
|
dundrearies |
Lord Dundreary, character in the
play Our American Cousin (1858) by Tom Taylor |
long flowing sideburns |
|
Egeria |
Egeria,
nymph who advised legendary roman king |
a woman advisor or companion |
|
eggs benedict |
Concocted by Waldorf-Astoria to hangover cure for
Samuel Benedict |
|
|
éminence grise |
nickname
of Perè Joseph (François Le Clere du Tremblay), Fr monk and confidant of
Cardinal Richelieu (1577–1638) |
the
power behind the throne [but often misused to mean "elder
statesman"] |
|
epicurian |
Epicurus, Gk
philosopher (341–270 BC) |
|
|
eristic |
Eris, Gk god of strife and discord |
disputatious,
esp. with specious logic |
|
erotic |
Eros, Gk god of sexual love |
|
|
euhemerism |
Euhemerus, Gk
philosopher 4th cent. BC |
interpretation of myths as traditional accounts
of historical persons and events |
|
euphuism |
Euphues, a
character in Euphues,
the Anatomy of Wit and Euphues and his England by John Lyly |
affected elegance of language |
|
euterpean |
Euterpe, Gk
muse of music |
pertaining to music |
|
Fabian |
Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus, who defeated
Hannibal |
cautious, dilatory |
|
fagin |
Fagin, character in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist (1839) |
one who instructs others in crime |
|
Fahrenheit |
Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit,
Ger physicist, 1686–1736. (born of Ger parents in Gdansk, now in Poland but
then in Prussian Confed.) |
|
|
Fallopian tubes |
Gabriello Fallopio
(1523-62), It anatomist, described them |
|
|
Falstaffian |
Sir John Falstaff, a character it
various Shakespeare plays |
jovial, convivial, roguish, with zest for life |
|
fanny adams |
Fanny Adams, age 8, victim of
a notorious murder and dismemberment in Alton, 1867 |
archaic naval slang: tinned
meat, or unpleasant food. sweet fanny adams: Brit slang for 'nothing
whatsoever' |
|
fata morgana |
Italian
version of the sorceress who, in
Arthurian legend, is called Morgan le Fay |
a
mirage |
|
Faustian |
Johann Faust
(1480?–1540?), Ger magician and alchemist |
insatiably
striving for worldly knowledge and power at the price of spiritual values |
|
favonian |
Favonius,
the west wind personified in myth |
mild; benign |
|
fedora |
Fédora Romanoff, title role in
Victorien Sardou's tragedy Fédora (1882), in which Sarah Bernhardt
made a triumphant comeback |
|
|
ferris wheel |
Gale Ferris (1859–1896), Am engineer, its inventor |
|
|
filberts |
St. Philibert's feast
day falls at the peak of the nutting season |
hazelnuts |
|
fletcherism |
Horace Fletcher, Am nutritionist |
to chew slowly and thoroughly |
|
foley |
Jack Foley, pioneering sound effects
editor at Universal Studios in the 1930s (1891–1967) |
in filmmaking, the adding of sound effects; the
person who does this job |
|
frangipani |
Muzio Frangipani, 16th c. Ital marquis |
pastry cream filling, almond-flavored; also,
perfume of the frangipani shrub |
|
Frankenstein |
Frankenstein,
the creator of the monster in Mary Shelley' Frankenstein |
a monstrous creation; esp. one that ruins its
originator |
|
Freudian slip |
Sigmund Freud, Austrian
physician, founder of psychoanalysis (1856–1939) |
a slip of the tongue that reveals some unconscious
aspect of the mind |
|
frick and frack |
Frick and Frack, stage names of comedy ice-skating duo, Werner
Groebli (Frick) and Hans Mauch (Frack) |
a closely linked or inseparable pair |
|
Friday |
day of Frigga, Gmc. goddess of married
love (trans. of L dies Veneris) |
|
|
frisbee |
tins from Mrs. Frisbie's Pies, made by the
Frisbie Bakery of Bridgeport, Ct., which U.S. college students began tossing
them around in the 1930s |
(trademark) |
|
fuchsia |
Leonhard Fuchs, Ger botanist died
1566 |
|
|
fudge |
some sources cite a Captain Fudge,
"who always brought home his owners a good cargo of lies." |
Note: there was in fact a Captain Fudge, called
"Lying Fudge" |
|
furphy |
either 1) Furphy
company's portable toilets in WWI Australia, or 2) Joseph Furphy
(1843-1912), Aus. author of tall stories |
Australian slang: an unreliable report; a "latrine
rumor" |
|
galvanize |
Luigi Galvani, It physician and physicist died
1798 |
stimulate to action, as if by electric shock |
|
gamp |
as carried by Mrs. Sarah Gamp,
character in Charles Dickens' Martin
Chuzzlewit |
a large baggy umbrella |
|
gardenia |
Alexander Garden, Sc-born Am naturalist
and physician (1730?–1791) |
|
|
gargantuan |
Giant-hero Gargantua in Rabelais’ Gargantua
and Pantagruel |
of immense size; gigantic |
|
garibaldi |
Guiseppe Garibaldi, Ital. patriot died
1882 |
a type of woman’s blouse |
|
gatling gun |
designed by Dr. Richard
Jordan Gatling (1818-1903) |
|
|
geiger counter |
invented by Ger. physicist
Hans Geiger, with W. Müller |
|
|
georgette |
named after Georgette
de la Plante, Fr dressmaker |
a sheer silk clothing fabric
with a dull, creped surface. |
|
gerrymander |
Elbridge Gerry, Am statesman died
1814 |
to divide territory into election districts so as
to favor one group |
|
gibberish |
Dr. Johnson ascribes this to Geber,
14th c. alchemist. Modern dictionaries disagree. |
|
|
gibson girl |
Charles Dana Gibson, American
illustrator (1867–1944) who created her in his sketch. His main model was his
wife, Irene Langhorne. Her sister, by the way, was Lady Astor. |
idealized 1890s American young woman; also,
style of her clothing characterized by high necks, full sleeves, wasp waists
|
|
gimlet |
perhaps devised by Sir T. O. Gimlette,
Br navy surgeon |
|
|
gladstone bag |
William Ewart Gladstone
(1809–1898), Br Prime Minister |
a piece of light hand luggage
with two hinged compartments |
|
goldilocks |
eponym? I
cannot verify whether this term is from the nursery story, or an earlier term
used in that story |
a person with golden hair |
|
Goliath |
Goliath, a philistine giant in the bible, slain by David |
person
or thing of collosal size or power |
|
golliwog |
Golliwog, an
animated doll in children’s fiction by Bertha Upton |
a grotesque black doll; grotesque person |
|
goody two-shoes |
Goody Two-shoes, title heroine in 18th c, children's tale (perh,
by Oliver Goldsmith) who gushed delight upon getting a second shoe |
one who is affectedly good and proper, just a bit
too good and proper |
|
goon |
Alice the Goon, subhuman creature in
E. C. Segar's Popeye comic |
note:
the word may pre-date Segar |
|
Gordian Knot |
Gordius,
king of Phrygia |
an intricate problem, usu. one insoluble in its
own terms |
|
gorgon |
Gorgons,
three snaky-haired sisters in Gk myth |
an ugly or repulsive woman |
|
gorilla |
the Gorillai, a tribe of hairy women. Mentioned
and named by Carthaginian navigator Hanno in his account of his voyage, 5th-
or 6th-cent. BC, along east coast of Africa |
|
|
gradgrind |
Thomas Gradgrind, businessman in Charles Dickens' Hard Times
(1854) |
one interested only in cold, hard facts |
|
graham cracker |
Rev. Sylvester Graham (1794–1851), American
cleric and social reformer, who created it as a health food |
|
|
grand marnier |
created/named by Louis
Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle, 1880 |
an orange-flavored French
liqueur |
|
grangerize |
James Granger, Eng. biographer died 1776 |
to illustrate with pictures collected from other
books; to mutilate books to get such materials |
|
granny smith apple |
Maria Ann Smith (b. 1799 or 1801; d.
1870), Australian woman who found that variety, as a mutation, in her orchard
(1868) |
|
|
grimthorpe |
Sir Edmund Beckett, First Baron Grimthorpe,
Eng. architect (1816–1905), lambasted in his restoration of St. Albans Abbey |
to badly remodel a building, ignoring its
character or history |
|
grog (groggy) |
Old Grog, nickname of Edward
Vernon died 1757, Eng admiral admiral who ordered that his sailors' rum be
served diluted |
rum cut with water (leading
to groggy) |
|
grundyism; mrs. grundy |
Mrs. Grundy,
character alluded to in the play Speed the Plough by Br playwright Thomas
Morton (1764–1838) |
an extremely conventional or priggish person |
|
guillotine |
Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), physician
and Fr Revolution Assembly-member, advocated it as more humane than hanging |
|
|
guppy |
R. J. Lechmere Guppy (1836–1916), Trinidad
clergyman who first supplied specimens to the British Museum |
|
|
guy |
originally, an effigy of Guy Fawkes,
leader of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up British king and Parliament (Nov. 5,
1605) |
chap; fellow (informal) |
|
ham (a bad actor) |
one theory traces this to Hamish
McCullough (1835-85), whose acting troop, "Ham's Actors," toured
the US midwest. |
|
|
harlequin |
Arlecchino (in F Harlequin),
Ital commedia dell'arte's buffoonish stock-character. (Ital term may come
from Old F Hellequin, who led a band of demons across the sky on
ghostly horses.) |
a clown-like pattern of
brightly diamond shapes; or, of many colors |
|
harlot |
not an eponym; a now-debunked
tale is that it is from Arlette, unwed mother of William the Conqueror |
|
|
havelock |
Sir Henry Havelock, Eng. general died
1857 |
a covering on a cap to protect the back of the
neck |
|
hector |
Hektor, the Trojan champion in the Trojan War |
a bully, braggart |
|
heisenbug |
name from Heisenberg's Uncertainty
Principle. Werner Karl Heisenberg, 1901–1976, Ger physicist, 1932
quantum mechanics, 1932 Nobel Prize. See also
schroedinbug, etc. |
computing jargon: bug acting differently
when one tries to probe it (e.g., if it acts on values altered by debugging
program) |
|
herculean |
Hercules of Gk myth |
of extraordinary power, size,
or difficulty |
|
hermaphrodite |
Hermaphroditos, son of Hermes and Aphrodite who becomes joined
in one body with a nymph while bathing |
animal or plant with both
male and female reproductive organs; also, a combination of diverse
elements |
|
hermetic |
Hermes Trismegitus (lit. ‘Hermes thrice greatest), legendary
author concerning magic, astrology and alchemy |
recondite. Also: [from
belief he invented a magic seal] airtight, or impervious to external
influence |
|
Hobson’s Choice |
Thomas Hobson, Eng. liveryman died 1631 who made each customer
take the nearest horse |
a choice, appearing free, but with no real
alternative |
|
hooker |
A common view traces term to Amer Civil War
general Joseph Hooker. But in fact the term is earilier, and is not an
eponym. |
prostitute |
|
hooligan |
perh. fr. Patrick Hooligan, Irish hoodlum in
London fl 1898 |
|
|
hoover |
William Henry Hoover, Amer industrialist
(1849–1932) |
a vacuum cleaner; to vacuum with one |
|
Hooverville |
Herbert Clark Hoover (1874–1964),
US president at the first years of the
Great Depression began |
a crudely built camp put up on the edge of town
to house the homeless |
|
Horatio Alger |
Horatio Alger,
Am author of inspirational adventure stories for boys (1832–1899) |
achieving success through hard work and virtue
(per Alger's stories) |
|
hotspur |
Hotspur, in
Shakespeare's Henry V. (Mrs. Bryne's Dictionary says the word comes from
characterand not vice versa.) |
a hot-headed, impetuous man |
|
hoyle |
Edmond Hoyle
(1672?-1769), Br writer on games |
according to Hoyle = per the prescribed rules |
|
huttoning |
Richard
and Robert Hutton, Eng bonesetters, who made it a part of their method |
forcible
manipulation of a dislocated, stiff, or painful joint |
|
hyacinth |
Hyacinth, handsome young man in Gk myth
adored by two gods |
a type of flower |
|
hypnosis |
Hypnos, Gk god of sleep |
|
|
Icarian |
Gk Ikraros, legendary son of Daedalus |
inadequate for an ambitious project |
|
ignoramus |
Ignoramus, lawyer in George Ruggle's play Ignoramus (1615).
Latin for "we are ignorant of" |
an utterly ignorant person |
|
jackanapes |
nickname for William de la
Pole, Duke of Suffolk (1396-1450), whose coat of arms included an ape; slang
for monkey was Jack Napes ("Jack of Naples") |
a silly, conceited person; a ridiculous
upstart |
|
Jacky Howe |
John "Jacky"
Howe (1855-1922), superb Australian sheepshearer. His 1892 record (321 merinos in one
working day) stood until 1950, when a machine beat it. |
Australian slang: a sheepshearer's sleeveless shirt |
|
jacuzi |
trademarked name; company founder Roy Jacuzzi |
|
|
January |
Janus, Roman god with two faces looking in opposite
directions |
|
|
jeep |
Originally the 'GP' (for 'general purpose');
influenced by Eugene the Jeep, pet creature of Olive Oyl in E.G. Segar's comic
strip. "Jeep" was the sound the creature made. |
|
|
jehu |
Jehu, king of Israel, known for his wild chariot
driving (Bible II Kings) |
one who drives furiously |
|
jekell and hyde |
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll
and Mr Hyde (1886) by Robert Louis
Stevenson |
|
|
jeremiad |
Jeremiah, pessimistic Old Testament prophet, died ~585
B.C. |
a speech of bitter lament or
righteous prophecy of doom |
|
jerry-built |
perhaps from the Jerry brothers,
early 19th c. Liverpool firm that built unsound houses |
|
|
jerry-can |
perhaps from jeroboam,
a large bolw or bottle, which is in turn from Jeroboam I, King of
Israel, 931-910 B.C. |
Military slang: a 5-gallon petrol can |
|
jezebel |
Jezebel, a wicked woman in the bible (I and II Kings) |
a evil and scheming woman |
|
jim crow |
from name of a black minstrel character in a
popular song-and-dance act, which in turn from a T.D. Rice song of 1828 |
upholding
discrimination against Black people ("Jim Crow laws") |
|
jingoism |
from 'by jingo', which may be
a euphemism for Jesus |
extreme and belligerent
nationalism |
|
joe |
Charlse Joseph La
Trobe, 1801-75, fanatical and pety lawman, Lt. Gov. of Victoria in 1851 |
Australian slang: policeman |
|
John Bull |
John Bull, a
character in John Arbuthnot's Law Is
a Bottomless Pit |
personification of England or the English |
|
john dory |
some say from John Dory,
16th c. privateer. But more likely
from its golden color (Fr doré = golden) |
a kind of fish |
|
John Hancock |
John
Hancock, the first signor of the US Declaration of Independence. His
signature there is prominent. |
a
person's signature |
|
jonah |
Jonah,
character in the bible swallowed by a big fish |
one
believed to bring bad luck |
|
jorum |
perh. bible, Joram, II Samuel 8:10, who “brought ... vessels of silver” |
a large drinking vessel, or
its contents |
|
jovial |
Jupiter, Roman god (unclear if word is the god, or from presumed astrological
inflence of the planet named after that god) |
|
|
judas |
Judas
Iscariot, biblical traitor |
one who betrays in the guise of friendship (judas
hole: one-way peephole in a door) |
|
juggernaut |
Jaggernaut, a title of Krishna (an incarnation of
Vishnu) |
a massive inexorable force that crushes
everything in its path |
|
July |
Julius Caesar |
|
|
jumbo |
Jumbo,
name of the London Zoo's huge elephant, sold in 1882 (the word is from the
elephant's name, not vice versa). The name may come from Swahili jumbe
= chief |
|
|
June |
Juno, chief Roman goddess, wife of Jupiter |
|
|
kaiser roll |
from the Ger title 'Kaiser'=emporor, which is
from Julius Caesar |
|
|
kewpie doll |
doll named for the god Cupid by
its creator, commercial illustrator Rose O'Neill (1874–1944) |
|
|
kir |
Canon Felix Kir
(1876-1968), mayor of Dijon, who is said to have invented the drink |
|
|
klieg light |
brothers John H. Kliegl (1869–1959) and Anton
Tiberius Kliegl (1872–1927), German-born Am lighting experts |
|
|
knickerbocker |
Historian Deidrich Knickerbocker, Washington Irving's
pseudonym in his wildly popular, humorous History of New York
(1809) |
a resident of New York (city or state) |
|
knickers |
the pants worn by the Knickerbockers (see above) in illustrations
of in 1850's edition of Irving's book |
|
|
labanotation |
Rudolph Laban
(1879–1958), Hungarian choreographer |
a system of notation for
recording the dance |
|
Lamarckism |
J. B. de Monet Lamarck, Fr biologist died
1829 |
theory that one passes his acquired
physical traits to his descendants |
|
lavaliere |
Françoise Louise de la Baume Le Blanc
(1644–1710), Duchesse de La
Vallière, the lover of Louis XIV of
France |
a pendant worn on a chain around the neck |
|
leotard |
Jules Léotard, Fr aerialist (1830–1870) |
|
|
levi's jeans; Levi's |
Levi Strauss, (1829?–1902), Am manufacturer
who founded the company (1850) |
(tradmark) |
|
lewisite |
Winford Lee Lewis, Am
chemist (1878–1943) |
a poison gas developed for
war use |
|
lobster newberg |
Ben Wenburg. (Invented by Delmonico's restauraunt, NY; named
for Wenburg; name changed upon a falling out.) |
|
|
loganberry |
James H. Logan
(1841-1928), Am lawyer develped it, 1881 |
a type of
blackberry/raspberry cross |
|
lothario |
Lothario, seducer in Nicholas Rowe's play The Fair
Penitent (1703) |
a man whose chief interest is seducing
women |
|
lucullan |
Lucius Licinius Lucullus Ponticus, Roman
general (~110–~56 BC) |
lavish, luxurious, opulent (e.g. a banquet) |
|
Lucy Stoner |
Lucy Stone (1818-1893), prominent Am
suffragette |
a married woman who keeps her maiden name |
|
Luddite |
Luddites, organized band of weavers who destroyed
machinery in England 1811–16, said to be Ned Ludd, a Leicestershire
worker |
one who opposes technological change |
|
lush |
one theory cites a drinking
club known as City of Lushington after Dr Thomas Lushington
(1590-1661), Br chaplain |
|