# Words that are somewhat unexpectedly named after people. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 15, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899 "2008-11-15T21:10:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/21 "2008-11-16T03:25:32Z")
I’ve got two: [Spoonerisms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoonerisms), the switching of consonants or morphemes between two words for comic effect; named after William Archibald Spooner, an Oxford Don who dropped many in his speech. Bowdlerize, for editing a work to remove all the “objectionable” (or “interesting”) bits. Named for [Thomas Bowdler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowdlerize), who cleaned up Shakespeare for women and children. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/22 "2008-11-16T03:26:08Z")
Thag Simmons gave us the [thagomizer](http://mentalfloss.cachefly.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/MF_thagomizer.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/23 "2008-11-16T03:31:31Z")
[Gerrymandering](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymander) is named for Gov. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, combined with salamander (which wiggly, slippery critter one of Gov. Gerry’s electoral district re-mappings was said to resemble). ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/24 "2008-11-16T03:36:39Z")
[Mentor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentor) was the tutor of Odysseus’ son, Telemachus. We often call someone with a loud voice [stentorian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stentor). Stentor was the herald of the Greek forces during the Trojan War. He was supposed to have a voice as loud as fifty men shouting. ---
**Author:** ![AllWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AllWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllWalker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/25 "2008-11-16T03:53:27Z")
Zeppelin is named after [Ferdinand von Zeppelin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zepplin) who first designed one. The term [lynching](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching) was named after Charles Lynch, a jurist in th 1700s. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/26 "2008-11-16T04:16:55Z")
The watt as a measurement of energy conversion was named for James Watt > **[Watt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt)** > > The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named in honor of James Watt (1736–1819), an 18th-century Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved the Newcomen engine with his own steam engine in 1776. Watt's invention was fundamental for the Industrial Revolution. > When an object's velocity is held constant at one... ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/27 "2008-11-16T04:35:54Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > There’s “[cardigan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brudenell,_7th_Earl_of_Cardigan)” and “[raglan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FitzRoy_Somerset,_1st_Baron_Raglan),” as in the style of sleeve. I’ve always thought it odd that two British military figures who fought in the Crimean War became associated with sweaters. When you add in the [balaclava](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaclava_(clothing)), which was named not after a person, but after a battle site from the Crimean War, I’m always inclined to refer to that particular conflict as the Sweater War. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/28 "2008-11-16T05:02:29Z")
The [foxtrot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxtrot) takes its name not from its resemblance to the meanderings of a canine, but from vaudeville performer Harry Fox, who invented the dance. Not a common noun, but also not a trademark: [Angel Falls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Falls) honors no celestial being. Aviator Jimmie Angel, who discovered the falls during a 1933 search for a potentially valuable ore bed, was honored when the English language needed a term for _Kerepakupai merú_. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/29 "2008-11-16T05:15:36Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > When you add in the [balaclava](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaclava_(clothing)), which was named not after a person, but after a battle site from the Crimean War, I’m always inclined to refer to that particular conflict as the Sweater War. Theirs not to question it. Theirs but to do and knit. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/30 "2008-11-16T05:15:58Z")
Quisling is from [Vidkun Quisling](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/31 "2008-11-16T05:21:43Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > [Gerrymandering](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymander) is named for Gov. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, combined with salamander (which wiggly, slippery critter one of Gov. Gerry’s electoral district re-mappings was said to resemble). Although interestingly enough, Gerry was apparently pronounced with a hard G, and gerrymander is not. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/32 "2008-11-16T05:26:47Z")
I am surprised at the absence of **America** from _Amerigo Vespucci_ also foreigners like: **braille** from\* Louis Braille\* \*\*chauvinism \*\* from _Nicolas Chauvin_ **martinet** from _Jean Martinet_ **nicotine** from _Jean Nicot_ **pasteurize** from _Louis Pasteur_ **quixotic** from _Don Quixote_ **saxophone** from \*Antoine Sax \* ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/33 "2008-11-16T07:32:22Z")
Henry Shrapnel invented a particulary nasty kind of ammuntion back in the 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![AllWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AllWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllWalker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/34 "2008-11-16T08:00:33Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > The watt as a measurement of energy conversion was named for James Watt Many, dare I say most SI units are named after people. Amp Kelvin Hertz Newton Pascal Joule Coulomb Volt Farad Ohm Siemens Weber Henry Celsius Becquerel Gray Sievert There are also Planck units (named after Max Planck) including Dirac’s constant, Coloumb’s force constant and Boltzmann’s constant, but these are starting to stray from the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/35 "2008-11-16T10:05:12Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > Henry Shrapnel invented a particulary nasty kind of ammuntion back in the 19th century. [The devil you say!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10452626&postcount=1) Yesterday I saw a shoe shop advertising “plimsoles”. The name “plimsoll” has nothing to do with soles, everything to do with the guy who put loading-lines on the sides of ships, but was not, per Wikipedia, the shoe’s inventor. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/36 "2008-11-16T10:16:26Z")
Santorum. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/37 "2008-11-16T11:03:16Z")
\*\*Kafkaesque \*\* from the famous writer’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/38 "2008-11-16T12:26:18Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > [The devil you say!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10452626&postcount=1) > > Yesterday I saw a shoe shop advertising “plimsoles”. The name “plimsoll” has nothing to do with soles, everything to do with the guy who put loading-lines on the sides of ships, but was not, per Wikipedia, the shoe’s inventor. Oops… _Slinks away in shame._ ---
**Author:** ![CWN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@CWN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CWN)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/39 "2008-11-16T13:20:45Z")
Pull a brody or take a brody It seems more of a New York expression from the Urban Dictionary A “Brody” is a miraculous maneuver or stunt. This comes from “Steve Brody”, the first man to survive the 135 foot jump from the Brooklyn Bridge. In 1885, right after the Brooklyn Bridge was built, Brody bragged he could survive the fall, and did. His amazing survival caused a media sensation, and the phrase “pull a Brody” has been used since then. (Only four people have _ever_ survived the 135 foot drop, which is equivalent to jumping from the top of a fourteen story building.) In 1885, Steve Brody owned a saloon. Parts of Brody’s saloon still survive today in New York’s Empire Room, which is fitted with mahogany panels and gold leaf plaster impressions recovered from Steve Brody’s Saloon. The miraculous 1885 survival of Brody made him very famous. From that time to this, New Yorkers have talked about “pulling a Brody” or “taking a Brody”, referring to Brody’s miracle jump and survival. In 120 years, obviously, some people have forgotten where “pull a brody” came from. Do some research on Steve Brody and you will see this is the actual origin of the phrase ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899/40 "2008-11-16T13:28:40Z")
I have to mention a very common word, derived from the name of a man who may have been my ancestor: “guy”, coming from the name of a Guy who tried to blow up the English parliament about 400 years ago. (My grandfather’s middle name was Fawkes, which supports the family tradition that Guy was up there in the family tree). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-somewhat-unexpectedly-named-after-people/472899.md?page=3)