I just stumbled on the fact that the color fuchsia comes from the name of the plant, which in turn was coined in the 1750's from the name of biologist [i]Leonard Fuchs.[i]
Leading me to wonder what other worthies' names have become immortalized as a word in our language?
Spooner, for wangling his tords. Pulaski, for the fireman's axe.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the subject at hand, but I just had an inane sentence go through my twisted little mind: Pete rose to the occasion, the old bat said during the ball.
These are examples of eponyms -- words that derive from people’s names.
There are thousands of such words in use, many of which we probably don't recognise as such, like "algorithm" (from Al-Khwarizm, an Arab mathematician) or the month of August (named after Caesar Augustus, Emperor of Rome).
"There are thousands of such words in use, many of which we probably don't recognise as such, like "algorithm" (from Al-Khwarizm, an Arab mathematician) or the month of August (named after Caesar Augustus, Emperor of Rome)."
Don't fergit Julius Ceasar (July!) How about Gibraltar? Or the famous Arab drunk, Al-kahol?
Asa, I am shocked and appalled that though you noted arnie's use of the key word, yout puns neglected to note that the last presidential campaign, by a candidate of the Democratic Party, was a classic [clearing throat] AlGorethm.
A similar occurrence is the use of trade names in place of the name of the generic item. One such example is aspirin, once a jealously-guarded trade mark. Others are thermos for a vacuum flask, and, in the UK at least, hoover for a vacuum cleaner. Even heroin was once a trade name!
[This message was edited by arnie on Wed Jul 17th, 2002 at 03:38 AM.]
quote:Isn't it eponymous, nmed for the Moor who conquered Iberia?
I didn't know that! A quick Google and I learned that "Tarik-ibn-Zeyad, a Berber, landed at the southern end of the Rock. His memory lives on to this day in the name "Gibraltar", which is a corruption of the Arabic words "Jebel Tarik" (Tarik's mountain)." See http://www.gibraltar.gi/history/index.htm if you're interested.
Yep, the word "hoover" to describe a vacuum cleaner seems to be peculiarly British, even though the Hoover company is American. Dunno about the Anzacs or Canucks, though; what do they use, I wonder?
