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:


# posted by threaded @ 1/08/2008 12:21:00 PM
Comments: Post a Comment



Links to this post:

Create a Link



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]