Hey guys,
A couple of weeks ago the Sunday trivia question was about toponyms, words that come from place names, so just to cover all the bases, this week's is about eponyms, words that come from people's names. Like toponyms, they're all over the place, especially the boring ones which are capitalized and completely transparent: degrees Fahrenheit, the Adam's apple, the Gatling gun. Others are now extremely opaque, and the people they reference often forgotten: boycott, diesel, silhouette, and sideburns, to name a few.
Julius Caesar has spread his name around with incredible success, possibly more than anyone in history. Along with being the source of the month of July, he also lent his cognomen to historical titles including the Czar and the Kaiser, a cipher, and a cocktail. (The Caesar salad, however, is named after restauranteur Caesar Cardini.) Don't get me started on Rome, whose culture dominates us more than most people realize, in our alphabet, calendar, architecture, government, religion, and, of course, language - all roads, after all.
Anyway, your trivia question today is about an eponym. Name an extremely common, opaque eponym that's just one syllable.
(My hint, hopefully just as opaque: Never forget.)
Amp, ohm, volt, watt.
ReplyDeleteAll good examples, but the one I had in mind is common in everyday speech even for non-scientists.
ReplyDeletemohs!
ReplyDeleteCommon, I say!
ReplyDeleteIt's "Guy," man. Count it!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I like Akpanoluo's answer.
ReplyDeleteGuy is correct! Good work, Ak!
ReplyDelete