# Gimme words like this: "draconian" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 12, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175 "2009-05-12T16:09:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/1 "2009-05-12T16:09:06Z")
A while back, in some thread I can’t find (it may have been one of those “things you’re amazed people don’t know” threads or it may have been a thread about how there was some campaign on the island of Lesbos trying to get people to stop using “lesbian” in the gay context) there were a few examples of words derived from either historical people or populaces that are now so firmly entrenched in the English language that almost all of the original connotation is pretty much missing. I remember that one example was “draconian” and people contributed some others that I found really neat-o! So hit me with some Word of the Day stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/2 "2009-05-12T16:55:43Z")
Silhouette. [See wiki.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silhouette) > [@](#): > > The word silhouette is an eponym of Etienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister who in 1759 was forced by France’s severe credit crisis during the Seven Years War to impose severe economic demands upon the French people, particularly the wealthy.[1] Because de Silhouette enjoyed making cut paper portraits, his name became synonymous with these portraits and with anything done or made cheaply. Prior to the advent of photography, silhouette profiles cut from black card were the cheapest way of recording a person’s appearance.[2] ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/3 "2009-05-12T17:02:16Z")
[Samuel Maverick](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Maverick) was a rancher who refused to brand his cattle. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/4 "2009-05-12T17:12:19Z")
- Boycotting - Chauvinism - Sideburns (although I think his name was Burnsides) - Santorum (sorry, that’s one for fans of the Savage Love column) - Socratic, as in method - Newtonian - Thespian, Terpsichorean, etc. - other Muse-following words - Apollonian vs. Dionysian - Mercurial - Procrustean, as in the bed, where there is a no-win situation Lots of places to go with this… ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/5 "2009-05-12T17:55:53Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Silhouette. [See wiki.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silhouette) Oh, that’s a cool one! I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/6 "2009-05-12T18:38:07Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Oh, that’s a cool one! I had no idea. Me neither. I will now refer to a silhouette as a ‘cave of bats’. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/7 "2009-05-12T18:38:56Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > words derived from either historical people or populaces that are now so firmly entrenched in the English language that almost all of the original connotation is pretty much missing. …or has become completely reversed. People use **the Midas touch** to indicate someone whose touch turns everything to gold –and this is a good thing. The myth from ancient Greece is about a king who was so greedy he wanted the ability to turn everything that he touched into gold. His wish was granted –by the god Hermes, I believe- and the king then realized that this ability quickly became a curse as his food and then later daughter were turned into solid gold. Seems the original moral of the story of not being a greedy rat bastard has been lost with the mists of time. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/8 "2009-05-12T18:52:29Z")
Betcha didn’t know the [cardigan sweater](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardigan_(sweater)) was named after an English nobleman. 🙂 Other items of clothing named after people: Wellington boots (Duke of Wellington) Nehru jackets and collars (Jawaharlal Nehru) Bloomers (Amelia Bloomer) Van Dyck suits and collars (Anthony van Dyck) ---
**Author:** ![Diz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Diz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diz)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/9 "2009-05-12T18:58:21Z")
There’s [laconic.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconic) ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/10 "2009-05-12T19:00:15Z")
sandwich ghetto tantalizing spartan ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/11 "2009-05-12T19:47:10Z")
Shrapnel, named for its inventor, [Henry Shrapnel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Shrapnel), an officer in the British Army. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/12 "2009-05-12T20:11:40Z")
Sadism, Masochism fictional example: Gargantuan, after the giant so named in one of Rabelais’s satires. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/13 "2009-05-12T20:17:51Z")
[leotard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_L%C3%A9otard) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/14 "2009-05-12T20:28:33Z")
[Quisling](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quisling), a traitor ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/15 "2009-05-12T20:44:32Z")
[stentorian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stentor) [hermetic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes_Trismegistus) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/16 "2009-05-12T21:10:12Z")
Harvard fencing coach Robert Weyer turned the sport all around. He introduced more comfortable gear, and he invented several maneuvers that let Harvard dominate fencing for several years. He has been dead for decades, but even today, everyone knows about Bob Weyer fencing. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/17 "2009-05-12T21:12:28Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > - Thespian, Terpsichorean, etc. - other Muse-following words Nitpick: Thespis was an early actor, not a muse. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/18 "2009-05-12T21:17:20Z")
oooh, Mentor was the old wise dude who helped out Odysseus by looking after his young son. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/19 "2009-05-12T21:41:57Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > [leotard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_L%C3%A9otard) I never would have thought tights were named after a dude. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/20 "2009-05-12T21:49:00Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > …or has become completely reversed. > > People use **the Midas touch** to indicate someone whose touch turns everything to gold –and this is a good thing. > > The myth from ancient Greece is about a king who was so greedy he wanted the ability to turn everything that he touched into gold. His wish was granted – **by the god Hermes, I believe** - and the king then realized that this ability quickly became a curse as his food and then later daughter were turned into solid gold. Seems the original moral of the story of not being a greedy rat bastard has been lost with the mists of time. Dionysus, actually. My fault, really. I was having _such_ a good time… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175.md?page=2)