# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/21 "2000-04-05T19:40:00Z")
There’s actually several books about eponyms. Someone has mentioned Espy’s book. There’s also _A New Dictionary of Eponyms_ by Morton Freeman and _The Dictionary of Eponyms_ by Robert Hendrickson (no doubt out of print) and at least one more. More: van dyke, spoonerism, dahlia, guppy, sequoia, chauvinist, martinet, nicotine. There’s also lots of fictional eponyms such as scrooge, romeo, Mrs. Grundy, sherlock… * * * Dan Tilque ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/22 "2000-04-05T19:44:00Z")
Yeah, I was thinking about these, but most of the eponyms I can think of are either geographical or firearm-related. Some of the latter: Minie ball, Parkerized, Der®inger, etc. Frankly, I don’t know how to tell if something is truly an eponym, or just the name of a product that the inventor named after himself. Here are some that are not so firearms related: I think I’ve heard to traitors referred to as Benedict Arnolds (as well as Quislings, as has been mentioned). Hypnosis can be called Mesmerism. Early photographs were called Daguerrotypes. (Please forgive any mistakes in capitalization. I have no idea which of these terms are vernacular enough to not require capitalization.) What I really like are the inflected words, derived from somebody’s name, which are strict adjectives. Jacksonian democracy, Frankensteinian medicine, Jeffersonian ideals, Kafkaesque dung beetles, Brechtian theater, Freudian whatever you please, Marxism, Keynesianism, Stalinism. Left-wing movements are named after people (the Socialist Labor Party used to call itself a Marxist-DeLeonist movement); right-wing movements are named after stuff from classical antiquity. (A slight overgeneralization, perhaps.) ---
**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, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/23 "2000-04-05T19:45:00Z")
Really? What’s a “Mrs. Grundy” in everyday speech? I remember the character from _Speed the Plough,_ or at least the references to “what Mrs. Grundy would say,” but I’d be as likely to hear a citation of _Solomon_ Grundy in the course of a day’s dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/24 "2000-04-05T20:01:00Z")
Anyone remember the episode of the Simpsons where Homer is listed in the dictionary? In that episode, a “Homer” is a clumsy or stupid action that results in an unexpected windfall. Who’d of thought 2000 years ago that the term “caesarian” would come to refer to a surgical procedure? Any chance that sometime in the future, “hitlerian” will refer to vegetarians and non-smokers? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/25 "2000-04-05T20:06:00Z")
I was trying to decide whether I would boycott this thread or burke the person who opened it until I saw this question: > [@](#): > > Really? What’s a “Mrs. Grundy” in everyday speech? Quoting from _Miss Manners’ Guide for the Turn-of-the-Millennium_, > [@](#): > > Mrs. Grundy, a character in Thomas Morton’s rollicking 1798 hit play _Speed the Plough_ (and thus a contemporary of Mrs. Malaprop, the Richard Brinsley Sheridan character who has so much trouble with words), was a lady who disapproved of everything, usually because she found scandalous possibilities in innocent actions. …Miss Manners has noticed that the once popular expression “What would Mrs. Grundy say?” has been replaced in this era by a similar expression that modesty forbids her from repeating. So probably one would not hear of Mrs. Grundy very frequently in everyday usage, which is no reason to abandon the poor dear or denigrate her for losing her place; to such an action, what would Miss Manners say? ---
**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, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/26 "2000-04-05T20:09:00Z")
For fictional characters, I am not sure if this term is in wide use, but I have heard several people over the years refer to “babbling on about something you know nothing about” as “Clavinizing”, after Cliff Clavin. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/27 "2000-04-05T21:14:00Z")
“Shrapnel,” from its inventor, Royal Artillery Lieut. Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842); “Sam Browne,” a military belt, invented by a one-armed British General who had difficulty in drawing his sword from the conventional waist-belts after losing his left arm winning a Victoria Cross during the India Mutiny of 1857 (The original belt is now on display in the India Room at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst); “Fuscia,” for the German botanist who first scientifically described the showy bloom; “Braille,” after Louis Braille; “Deisel,” after Rudolf Deisel; Oh, and “Volt,” “Ohm,” “Kelvin,” and “Curie,” after those smart folks; does “Teddy Bear” count? * * * **Launcher may train without warning.** ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/28 "2000-04-05T21:28:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Rodd Hill: > \*\* > “Fuscia,” for the German botanist who first scientifically described the showy bloom;\*\* The fellow’s name was Fuchs; the flower’s, fuschia. > [@](#): > > “Deisel,” after Rudolf Deisel D **ie** sel. ## Then, of course, there’s “bozo.” For business reasons, I must preserve the outward signs of sanity. - Mark Twain ---
**Author:** ![Crystalguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dbc845/32.png) [@Crystalguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crystalguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/29 "2000-04-05T21:37:00Z")
Hertz and Farrad * * * Crystalguy ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/30 "2000-04-05T22:08:00Z")
Rodd Hill reminded me of some others (forgive me if I’m repeating somebody else): Fahrenheit Celsius Ampere Watt Mho (just kidding. Mho is just Ohm spelled backwards, I think.) Coulomb (spelling?) ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/31 "2000-04-05T22:36:00Z")
How about Annie Oakleys? - free passes to a show. When Don Ameche starred in the movie about A.G. Bell, there was a brief flutter there of people calling the telephone the “Ameche.” ---
**Author:** ![Sassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Sassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/32 "2000-04-05T22:47:00Z")
slang term I heard - calling someone a Monet… because they look good from a distance, but up close they are a little dotty. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/33 "2000-04-05T23:36:00Z")
Skydivers I knew years ago used the term “Mae West” as a verb to describe the situation when a chute opened with a line over the top of the canopy. From all I’ve heard of Ms. West, I think she’d rather go down as a verb than a noun. ---
**Author:** ![Vestal\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5e9695/32.png) [@Vestal\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vestal_Blue)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/34 "2000-04-05T23:41:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by MaxTorque: > **I guess it’s up to the Texan to remind y’all of the Stetson…** How can you call yourself Texan and forget Maverick? My contribution: Gerrymander. * * * VB Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well. ---
**Author:** ![Vestal\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5e9695/32.png) [@Vestal\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vestal_Blue)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/35 "2000-04-05T23:48:00Z")
Oh, and Eve; “Get thee to a nounery!” (VB ducks and runs!) * * * VB Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well. ---
**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 6, 2000, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/36 "2000-04-06T00:00:00Z")
Yeah, yeah, Arnold, noticed that after I hit Reply. So sue me. A couple more I haven’t seen here yet: Leotard Listerine Bloomers Graham crackers Silhouette Rastafarian Lynch Lush Shyster Alfredo (as in fettuccine) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/37 "2000-04-06T00:03:00Z")
If I made a cutting remark about a _Barlow_, would I be risking a trip to the _guillotine_ or would you simply _lynch_ me? * * * Tom~ ---
**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 6, 2000, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/38 "2000-04-06T00:05:00Z")
Almost forgot about this one, might give y’all a laugh: Thanks to George Bush (the former pres, not the candidate) puking on their prime minister, the Japanese finally have a socially-acceptable verb for ‘to vomit’. It’s _bushu-suru_, literally, ‘to do a Bush’. And they actually use it: on The Daily Show, they once showed a brief clip of a Japanese comedy show that featured a monkey that would mime gagging and vomiting when his handler said, “Bushu-suru!” At least we made an impression. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/39 "2000-04-06T00:09:00Z")
I scrambled the title of Espy’s book: **O Thou Improper, Thou Uncommon Noun**. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026/40 "2000-04-06T07:13:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by zgystardst: > \*\* The fellow’s name was Fuchs; the flower’s, fuschia. > \*\* ## Fuchsia (although it’s probably spelled your way more often than the official way…) Dan Tilque [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-a-noun/10026.md?page=3)