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.

"Spooner, for wangling his tords."

OH! That sounds painful! (Or illegal!)

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's a list of some common eponyms at http://members.tripod.com/~foxdreamer/

"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.

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How about Gibraltar?

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Sorry, I don't get that one.

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.]

"How about Gibraltar?"

"Sorry, I don't get that one."

Isn't it eponymous, nmed for the Moor who conquered Iberia?

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Isn't it eponymous, nmed for the Moor who conquered Iberia?

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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.

Arnie,
Other trade names we see are kleenex; jello; tylenol; however, I can's say that we, in the USA, call all vacuums Hoovers, right fellow USA'ans?

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?