Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Words from people's names
| algorithm | al-Khowarizmi | |
| America | Amerigo Vespucci | |
| ampere | Andre Ampere | |
| angstrom | Anders Jonas Ångström | |
| bogart | Humphrey Bogart | his style of smoking a cigarette |
| borked | Justice Robert Bork | a judge nominated, but never managing to hold office, due to the machinations of politicians blocking him. |
| boycott | Captain Charles Boycott (1832-1897) | Irish Land League decided to punish him for not lowering his rents by boycotting him. |
| braille | Louis Braille | |
| Celsius | Anders Celsius | |
| chauvinism | Nicolas Chauvin | early 19th–century French soldier |
| dahlia | Anders Dahl | |
| diesel | Rudolf Diesel | |
| draconian | Draco | Athenian lawgiver not entirely confirmed to have existed |
| dunce | John Duns Scotus | 13th/14th-century thinker |
| Fahrenheit | Gabriel Fahrenheit | |
| guy | Guy Fawkes | |
| herculean | Hercules | |
| lynch | Charles Lynch (1736-1796) | Judge in Virginia |
| macadam | John McAdam | |
| martinet | Jean Martinet | |
| maverick | Samuel Maverick | |
| mickey-finn | Mickey Finn | a Chicago saloon owner in one of the less salubrious parts of town. |
| nicotine | Jean Nicot | |
| ohm | Georg Simon Ohm | |
| pasteurize | Louis Pasteur | |
| poinsettia | Joel Poinsett | |
| quisling | Vidkun Quisling (18/7/1887–24/10/1945) | collaborated with the German invaders of Norway during WWII. |
| quixotic | Don Quixote | |
| sandwich | Earl of Sandwich | |
| saxophone | Antoine Sax | |
| shrapnel | General Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842) | noticed ordinary cannon balls just didn't quite kill enough people |
| sideburns | Ambrose Burnside | |
| silhouette | Etienne de Silhouette | |
| spoonerism | Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930) | was famous for his muddled one-liners |
| tawdry | St. Audrey | the daughter of the king of East Anglia |
| volt | Count Alessandro Volta | |
| watt | James Watt | |
| zeppelin | Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin |
Labels: thought for today
# posted by threaded @ 1/08/2008 12:21:00 pm 
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