# Who wants to be a noun? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2000, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026 "2000-04-05T15:27:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/1 "2000-04-05T15:27:00Z")
Or an adjective or adverb? There was a discussion in another thread about “doing a Brodie” (jumping from a bridge) and “Frankie Baileys” (great gams, after the showgirl of that name). What other peoples’ names have gone into the language as nouns, etc.? The only ones I can think of are “Mae West” (inflatable life jackets, for the obvious reason) and “billieburkes” (lacy one-piece lingerie, worn by Billie Burke in a B’way show in the 1910s). Oh, yeah, and there’s that Christ guy, too . . . Can you think of any other names that have become part of the language? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/2 "2000-04-05T15:45:00Z")
“Sideburns” were originally called “mutton chops,” until they were sported by Gen Ambrose Burnside. Then they became “burnsides.” The words later became switched to “sideburns.” (Although, today, “sideburns” can refer to a little less hair than mutton chops.) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/3 "2000-04-05T15:48:00Z")
“Sideburns” were originally called “mutton chops,” until they were sported by Gen Ambrose Burnside. Then they became “burnsides.” The words later became switched to “sideburns.” (Although, today, “sideburns” can refer to a little less hair than mutton chops.) ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/4 "2000-04-05T18:09:00Z")
I’m not such a sadist that I would use the guillotine on you if you spilled boysenberries on my cardigan. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/5 "2000-04-05T18:10:00Z")
Cardigan sweaters, Raglan sleeves, sandwiches, Chateaubriand, Mayonaisse, Melba toast, Boycott, Quisling and many more. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/6 "2000-04-05T18:10:00Z")
Almost lunch time, I’m in the mood for a sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/7 "2000-04-05T18:14:00Z")
OK, I was scooped on sandwich, here are some other ones. bowdlerize, mackintosh, jacuzzi, hoover, stetson. I believe the term is “eponym.” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/8 "2000-04-05T18:16:00Z")
I could use a Lewinsky. (Damn, now I can’t tell if that should be an i or a y.) ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/9 "2000-04-05T18:16:00Z")
Lewinsky? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/10 "2000-04-05T18:22:00Z")
For those who want to cheat, run out to your library and pick up a copy of Willard Espy’s **O Thou Uncommon Thou Improper Noun** which lists a couple of thousand of these. (Many are place names rather than people, but there are still lots of both kinds.) (If you get the book out of the library, don’t bogart it.) * * * Tom~ ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/11 "2000-04-05T18:24:00Z")
Cool—thanks, I can’t believe I didn’t recall those! I guess I was zoning in on the show-biz ones. There’s also Genl. Hooker, though that’s debatable, historically. I also can’t believe that Sax or Ike have not popped in with Antoine-Joseph “Adolphe” Sax (1814–94). ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/12 "2000-04-05T18:26:00Z")
I guess it’s up to the Texan to remind y’all of the Stetson… ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/13 "2000-04-05T18:26:00Z")
How about “Daisy Dukes.” I know, a character name, but still… * * * “In this life you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant. For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.” -Elwood P. Dowd in “Harvey” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/14 "2000-04-05T18:30:00Z")
Oh, that doesn’t count. Sax invented the _saxophone,_ and “sax” is just a shortening of “saxophone,” not a homage to Sax himself. Right? Right? Okay, how about “daisydukes” for cut-off short-shorts? Those are named for a _fictional_ character. * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/15 "2000-04-05T18:33:00Z")
Make sure that’s a lewinsky you get, and not a bobbit. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/16 "2000-04-05T18:33:00Z")
Paraphrasing **Alphagene,** no more pee breaks before hitting the Submit Reply button. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/17 "2000-04-05T18:38:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by MaxTorque: > I guess it’s up to the Texan to remind y’all of the Stetson… No, a swiss got there first. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/18 "2000-04-05T18:40:00Z")
The figure skating jump called the Salchow was named for a famous skater in the 1920’s. Given how it’s pronounced (sow cow), it’s not a name I’d have liked having! * * * “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank “Mom, he’s a neo Nazi! He’s a doctor also? Well…” - WallyM7 ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/19 "2000-04-05T18:50:00Z")
Another fictional character one would be the adjective “Mickey Mouse” as in “this Mickey Mouse operation I work at.” * * * “In this life you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant. For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.” -Elwood P. Dowd in “Harvey” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/20 "2000-04-05T19:26:00Z")
I was wearing my old LaCoste, cleaning my Remington… oops, sorry, wrong post. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026.md?page=2)