# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/21 "2009-05-12T21:49:55Z")
> [@DaphneBlack](#): > > oooh, Mentor was the old wise dude who helped out Odysseus by looking after his young son. Or the old wise dude who helped out Billy Batson and drove the Winnebago. ---
**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, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/22 "2009-05-12T22:21:46Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > I never would have thought tights were named after a dude. Well, he was French. So it’s not THAT shocking. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/23 "2009-05-12T23:01:21Z")
“Cyclopean”, occasionally used to mean buildings/monuments built on a really large scale. HP Lovecraft liked using it. It refers to an [actual type of ancient construction](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclopean), however, and originally was attributed to the Cyclops of myth ( which in turn may be due to a misinterpetation of [elephant skulls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dwarfelephant.jpg)). ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/24 "2009-05-12T23:06:43Z")
What about byzantine? Does that fit? ---
**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, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/25 "2009-05-12T23:20:45Z")
Then there’s [Hobson’s Choice.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobson%27s_choice) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/26 "2009-05-12T23:30:58Z")
My favorite word of this type is [isabelline](http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/1305538), describing a pale, yellowish-gray color. According to legend, it originates from a Queen Isabella (which one is uncertain) who vowed not to change her underwear until her country’s armies were victorious in a siege against an enemy city. The city held out much much longer than expected, resulting in underwear of an isabelline hue. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/27 "2009-05-12T23:39:31Z")
[Pyrrhus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhus_of_Epirus), who had the original pyrrhic victory. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/28 "2009-05-13T00:11:45Z")
The word “gun” is [apparently](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=gun) a shortening of a female name ( Gunilda, or something similar ), and originally referred to a particular cannon. > [@](#): > > reference to a specific gun from a 1330 munitions inventory of Windsor Castle (“…una magna balista de cornu quae Domina Gunilda …”), Not many people hear “gun” and think of a woman’s name these days; so it seems to qualify. ---
**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 13, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/29 "2009-05-13T00:13:33Z")
Heh…not only Gunilda, but Lady Gunilda. Cannons today just don’t get that kind of respect… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/30 "2009-05-13T01:27:39Z")
> [@bup](#): > > ghetto :dubious: How so? Merriam-Webster gives: > [@](#): > > Etymology: Italian, from Venetian dialect ghèto island where Jews were forced to live, literally, foundry (located on the island), from ghetàr to cast, from Latin jactare to throw — more at jet > Date: 1611 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/31 "2009-05-13T02:07:43Z")
Thespian. Means “actor”. From [Thespis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thespis), the first actor ever. ETA : gah, missed the early mention. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/32 "2009-05-13T03:36:06Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > :dubious: > > How so? Merriam-Webster gives: > > > [@](#): > > > > Etymology: Italian, from Venetian dialect ghèto island where Jews were forced to live, literally, foundry (located on the island), from ghetàr to cast, from Latin jactare to throw — more at jet > > Date: 1611 Right. “Ghetto” meaning a minority, usually slummy, area of a city, comes from that original Jewish neighborhood in Venice - the word comes from the name of that section. ---
**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 13, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/33 "2009-05-13T03:37:42Z")
Jumbo - applied to anything big, such as a Jumbo Jet is named after [Barnum’s elephant](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumbo). Titch - applied to anything small is named after the music hall star [Little Tich](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpc4FwnWkws), who is himself named after the [Tichbourne Claimant.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tichborne_claimant) (ironically, since the claimant was a huge man) ---
**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 13, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/34 "2009-05-13T03:44:44Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Right. “Ghetto” meaning a minority, usually slummy, area of a city, comes from that original Jewish neighborhood in Venice - the word comes from the name of that section. But the thread is about eponyms…the names of _people_, real or imaginary, which have become common nouns or adjectives. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/35 "2009-05-13T04:15:18Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > But the thread is about eponyms…the names of _people_, real or imaginary, which have become common nouns or adjectives. Like “Lesbos”? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/36 "2009-05-13T04:39:53Z")
Do these count? One’s a statue, one’s a play character: Colossal, from the Colossus of Rhodes, of course. Malapropism, from the character Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan’s The Rivals. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/37 "2009-05-13T04:52:35Z")
> [@Mahna\_Mahna](#): > > 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) Not to mention the raglan jacket/sweater construction, named after one Lord Raglan who lost his arm in the Crimean war and wanted something easier to wear than the standard set-in sleeve. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/38 "2009-05-13T05:15:48Z")
Ah, yes, Bob Weyer Fencing, the scourge of the open rangeland… ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/39 "2009-05-13T07:37:23Z")
The novel _Trilby_ by George Du Maurier meant that the hat got its popular name after becoming associated with it being worn during the smash hit play version. It more famously, directly and obviously introduced the world and the English language to the character of [Svengali](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svengali). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175/40 "2009-05-13T08:02:11Z")
Gerrymander as in distorting electoral districts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimme-words-like-this-draconian/496175.md?page=3)