Classical references in everyday life

In My Humble Opinion
1

Being interested in Greco-Roman languages, history and culture as well as etymology in general, I take great amusement in catching “hidden” classical references in everyday life (as a matter of fact, yes…I AM the life of the party, damn it!).

There are a number of company names, for example, that are familiar enough as everyday words, but are derived directly from Greek and/or Latin.

  • Magnavox (“great voice”)
  • Volvo (“I roll”)
  • Xerox (“dry”)

I’ve also come across other items, mostly brand names, that hint more slyly at some classical reference. My two favorites:

  • A friend of mine has a kitchen stove with the brand name Vesta, named for the Roman goddess of the hearth.
  • Frigidaire (a brand of refrigerator), which sounds like a compound of frigid and air, but is also named for the frigidarium, the cold-water pool used by Romans to cool off after a hot bath. Sheer genius.

Okay, fellow classicist wannabes. Where else have you uncovered hidden allusions to the ancient world in your daily life? Note that I’m looking for deliberate (preferably obscure) references, the sort of thing dreamt up by frustrated classics majors who silently snicker with glee as their esoteric joke soars over the heads of hoi polloi.

2

Not really classical, but Palantir Technologies sells data mining services. I thought that was cute.

3

I might as well be the one to mention U2’s lead singer, Bono Vox.

4

Variations on a theme: one of my favorite bands from the 80s was Ultravox.

5

Twice a day, I poke a Rhinocort applicator into my nose, and squirt mist in there.

6

Magnavox?

Everyday?

Really?

7

Wisconsin dairy farmers where I grew up called their herds back to the barn with “come bos!”

“Venus” and “Aphrodite” will generate some NSFW Google hits.

The Tennessee Titans (although I doubt they devour their own children)

Extinct but still in living memory: “excelsior” replaced with packing peanuts, “Fido” as a dog’s name.

My godfather’s name was “Jupe,” never common, even a few generations earlier among all the Hectors and Horaces, but a neat name nonetheless.

“Anthony” is still common, some more than others.

8

There are all those spells and curses in the Harry Potter series: Sectumsempra (cut forever), Lumos (light), Cruciatus (torture), Accio (summon), Confundo (confuse), etc., etc., etc.

9

The most cliched, stereotypical name for dogs is Fido, which comes from the Latin word for “faithful.”

Farmers still occasionally give cows the nickname “Bossie,” from the Latin word “bos” (cow).

Akio Morita named his new radio company “Sony” because “Sonitus” is the LAtin word for sound.

10

How about place names?

Cincinnati, Ohio was named in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, which was founded to honor George Washington, who was considered to be a modern-day Cincinnatus.

Philadelphia is Greek for “brotherly love”.

There are plenty of “hybridized” names constructed by sticking Latin or Greek suffixes onto vernacular stems, such as Indianapolis, Annapolis, and Pennsylvania.

Also there must be plenty of place names honoring early Christians (e.g., San Pedro, San Jose, San Juan) – not sure if you consider those “classical” or not.

On a different note – any time we appoint a “drug czar” or “energy czar” or whatever, it’s really a classical reference, since “czar” derives from “Caesar”. (As did “Kaiser”, which was in use until 1918.)

11

The Swan company, or the House of Swan as it prefers to be known, first sold matches in the UK in 1883. 12 years later, they put on the market a brand called Swan White Pine Vestas, renamed Swan Vestas in 1908.

Although marketed as ‘The Smoker’s Match’, the connection to Vesta is as inescapable as that of the kitchen stove.

12

Double score: Lithopolis, Ohio – Rock City.

13

For many years my family lived a bit south of Cicero Ave.

14

Forgot to mention:

Nova Scotia
Corpus Christi, TX