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	<title>A Love of Words &#187; eponyms</title>
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	<description>words from a linguistics-obsessed word-origin-seeking bookworm</description>
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		<title>Eponymous Words</title>
		<link>http://www.aloveofwords.com/2009/09/14/eponymous-words/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:08:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maggie</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[eponyms]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[etymology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[word formation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[word origins]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Eponymous means named after a particular person. For example, the Harry Potter series and Reaganomics are both eponyms. This is another way that words are added to a language.
Eponyms are actually all over our language. Did you know the Pavlova (a meringue dessert) was named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova (1885-1931)?
The volt (the unit [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Eponymous</strong> means <strong><em>named after a particular person</em></strong>. For example, the <strong>Harry Potter</strong> series and <strong>Reaganomics</strong> are both <strong>eponyms</strong>. This is another way that words are added to a language.</p>
<p><strong>Eponyms</strong> are actually all over our language. Did you know the <strong>Pavlova</strong> (a meringue dessert) was named after the Russian ballerina <em>Anna Pavlova</em> (1885-1931)?</p>
<p>The <strong>volt</strong> (the unit of electromotive force) was named after the Italian physicist <em>Allessandro Volta</em> (1745-1827). He invented the electric battery.</p>
<p><strong>Nicotine</strong> (the drug in tobacco) was named after <em>Jean Nicot</em> (1530-1600), a French intellectual who first brought tobacco to France.</p>
<p>The <strong>magnolia</strong> genus (a type of shrub or tree) is from <em>Pierre Magnol</em> (1638-1715), a botanist from France who came up with a system of taxonomy.</p>
<p>The <strong>cardigan</strong> (a sweater with buttons) was first coined during the Crimean War when soldiers wore them to keep warm. It was named after an English officer who happened to be <em>the seventh Earl of Cardigan</em> (James Thomas Brudenell, 1797-1868).</p>
<p>A more common one is the <strong>teddy bear</strong>: it was named after president Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), who was nicknamed <em>Teddy</em>. One time while he was bear-hunting he left a bear cub unhurt, which led to a comic, which led to this eponym.</p>
<p>Some eponyms are obvious (<strong>Disneyland <span style="font-weight: normal;">or</span> Lou Gehrig&#8217;s Disease</strong>), while others are more subtle (<strong>adidas</strong>). Here are some more eponyms that come from people&#8217;s names: guillotine, Graham crackers, Dewey Decimal System, diesel, Mount Everest, guppy, lutz, lynching, narcissism, pasteurization, shrapnel, and zamboni (the thing that makes ice smooth).</p>
<p>We have eponyms from famous fictional characters: &#8220;<strong>keeping up with the Joneses</strong>&#8221; (comic strip characters, 1913), <strong>herculean</strong> (Hercules), and <strong>quixotic</strong> (Don Quixote de la Mancha).</p>
<p>We can have <strong>eponymous places</strong>, too: <strong>bourbon</strong> (Bourbon County, Kentucky), <strong>copper</strong> (Cyprus), <strong>jeans</strong> (Genoa, Italy), <strong>labrador</strong> (Labrador, China), <strong>pheasant</strong> (Phasis, Georgia), <strong>pistol</strong> (Pistoia, Italy), <strong>suede</strong> (Sweden), and <strong>tuxedo</strong> (Tuxedo Park Country Club, New York) are all eponyms based on locations.</p>
<p>[<em>Some of these examples come from The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language by David Crystal. It's the best linguistic reference book that I own</em>.]</p>
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