For those of you who do not know, an eponym (as defined by the Merriam-Webster's online dictionary) is "one for whom or which something is or is believed to be named." Let me give you an example- a newton is a good idea that seems to have appeared out of nowhere. It's obviously derived from the famous Sir Isaac Newton, and in this case specifically refers to the story of Newton being sat down beneath an apple tree, and then being bonked on the head with an apple, and thinking hard enough about that incident to then formulate his theory on gravity (and consequently, he invents calculus). Now, I'm not going to vouch for the credibility of the previous sentence, and quite honestly am a bit skeptical of the story myself, but that is not the issue here. In fact, there is no issue, I am merely trying to show an example of an eponym. I trust you now understand.
Recently on one of my favorite blogs, Schott's Vocab, there was a competition between the readers trying to see who can formulate the best eponymous word. Being a fan of words, I decided to give the comments section a look over, and perhaps share some of the eponymous words I found amusing here.
So, my readers, here you are-
Number 1. dawkins: SI unit of disbelief = inverse of graham
Number 2. to sun (tzu) sue: keep your friends close but your attorneys closer
Number 3. Kanye’d: Get embarrassed by someone in a formal public setting. Usually by someone who’s drunk.
Number 4. T.Hanks Giving: this is the special occasion you give someone Sleepless In Seattle, BIG, Philidelphia, The Money Pit, Dragnet, Turner and Hooch, Forrest Gump, et al……
Number 5. A Clintonian Truth: Technically accurate but deliberately misleading. “I did not have sex with that woman” and others.
After reading through ten pages of the comments sections, I've been inspired to create an eponymous word of my own.
To Ray Comfort- To continuously babble on about scientific topics you're ignorant about, only to continue mouthing off the same tripe after being proved incorrect time and time again.
What, too wordy? Not wordy enough?
Oh well...
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No, I think your on to something there mate. He certainly deserves to have that kind of linguistic association, after all the "work" he's done for scientific advancement.
ReplyDeletePerhaps;
VERB :- [Ray]Comforting:- The act of consoling someone with a work of fiction, which bears no relation to accuracy or reality.
TRF
I like that one as well.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it'll catch on if I begin using- the only problem is that in most cases, I'll probably be talking about Ray himself.