A.W.A.D. - No End to Eponyms
with Anu Garg
churrigueresque
PRONUNCIATION: (choor-ee-guh-RESK)
MEANING: adjective: Baroque; lavish; over-the-top. Also, churrigueresco
ETYMOLOGY: After José Benito Churriguera (1650-1725), Spanish architect and sculptor, whose family was known for extravagant architectural decorations.
USAGE: "I had what I considered to be a reasonable plan for finding out what was going on in McAllen, Texas. I would call on the heads of its hospitals, in their swanky, decorator-designed, churrigueresco offices, and I'd ask them." Atul Gawande; The Cost Conundrum; The New Yorker; Jun 1, 2009
Mata Hari
PRONUNCIATION: (MA-tuh HAR-ee, MAT-uh HAR-ee)
MEANING: noun: A seductive woman who works as a spy
ETYMOLOGY: After exotic dancer Mata Hari, a stage name of Margaretha Geertruida Zelle (1876-1917). She was a Dutch woman, who took a Malay name, allegedly spied for the Germans, and was executed by the French. Her stage name Mata Hari means sun, literally "eye of the day", from Malay mata (eye) + hari (day, dawn).
USAGE: "Roxana Saberi, in the space of a few months, has gone from freelance journalist arrested for carrying an illicit bottle of wine, to American Mata Hari spying against Iran for the CIA and now a free woman allowed to return home." Richard Beeston; Ayatollah Ali Khameini's Hidden Hand in Roxana Saberi Case; The Times (London, UK); May 12, 2009
ETYMOLOGY: After Peter Rachman (1919-1962), a landlord in London who became notorious for unethical practices including driving out tenants to maximize revenue from his rental properties. Another fellow who got his name in the dictionary for harassing tenants is Charles Boycott (1832-1897), a British land agent in Ireland, whose mistreatment of tenants resulted in his getting ostracized, i.e. he was boycotted.
USAGE: "It is a story of pure Rachmanism. She had been threatened, had her rent cheque refused, her electricity cut off, and seen her absent neighbours' flats cleared of all their possessions, while rubbish was dumped outside her door."Peter Beaumont; Drowned City Cuts Its Poor Adrift; The Observer (London, UK); Dec 11, 2005
NOTES: The term Rachmanism is a Britishism, though unscrupulous landlords are found everywhere. The above usage example is from the UK, but even if not mentioned, it'd be easy to tell: in just one sentence it manages to include four examples that illustrate the spelling and vocabulary differences between British English and American English:cheque/check, neighbour/neighbor, flat/apartment, and rubbish/trash.
mausoleum
PRONUNCIATION: (maw-suh-LEE-uhm, -zuh-)
MEANING: A large tomb, usually an ornate stone building
ETYMOLOGY: After Mausolus, a Persian governor in 4th century BCE. His monumental tomb was considered as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, after which any grand tomb is now called a mausoleum.Also see columbarium.
USAGE: "Wu is leading a delegation to attend the 80th anniversary of the burial of Sun Yat-sen at a mausoleum in Nanjing."Flora Wang and Mo Yan-chih; Chen Chu Praised For Saying President; Taipei Times (Taiwan); May 23, 2009
martinet
PRONUNCIATION: (mar-ti-NET, MAR-ti-net)
MEANING: noun: A strict disciplinarian
ETYMOLOGY: After Jean Martinet, an army officer during the reign of Louis XIV in France. He was a tough drill master known for his strict adherence to rules and discipline. He was killed by friendly fire during the siege of Duisburg in 1672.
USAGE: "Many people believe the agency acts like a martinet. They say the agency is hard-headed and hard-hearted. They say it is dictatorial and unyielding."APA Motives Commendable; Press-Republican (Plattsburgh, New York); May 11, 2009
Self-improvement author Dale Carnegie once said, "A person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language."
No wonder we put it to use any chance we get: from naming a business (Wal-Mart) to naming a child (Ron Jr.). For the same reason, we insist that a hospital auditorium or a park bench carry our name in return for our money.
We name inventions, diseases, countries, products, plants, mountains, planets, and more after people's names. We even coin words after them. Such words are called eponyms, from epi- (upon) + -onym (name).This week's AWAD examines five words named after people.
churrigueresque
PRONUNCIATION: (choor-ee-guh-RESK)
MEANING: adjective: Baroque; lavish; over-the-top. Also, churrigueresco
ETYMOLOGY: After José Benito Churriguera (1650-1725), Spanish architect and sculptor, whose family was known for extravagant architectural decorations.
USAGE: "I had what I considered to be a reasonable plan for finding out what was going on in McAllen, Texas. I would call on the heads of its hospitals, in their swanky, decorator-designed, churrigueresco offices, and I'd ask them." Atul Gawande; The Cost Conundrum; The New Yorker; Jun 1, 2009
"With Chihuly, who works with an army of technicians, everything depends on visual excess. He is the most baroque of modern artists -- or more accurately, his art belongs to the tradition of the Churrigueresque." Richard Dorment; The Mind-blowing Gift of a Master; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Feb 20, 2009
Mata Hari
PRONUNCIATION: (MA-tuh HAR-ee, MAT-uh HAR-ee)
MEANING: noun: A seductive woman who works as a spy
ETYMOLOGY: After exotic dancer Mata Hari, a stage name of Margaretha Geertruida Zelle (1876-1917). She was a Dutch woman, who took a Malay name, allegedly spied for the Germans, and was executed by the French. Her stage name Mata Hari means sun, literally "eye of the day", from Malay mata (eye) + hari (day, dawn).
USAGE: "Roxana Saberi, in the space of a few months, has gone from freelance journalist arrested for carrying an illicit bottle of wine, to American Mata Hari spying against Iran for the CIA and now a free woman allowed to return home." Richard Beeston; Ayatollah Ali Khameini's Hidden Hand in Roxana Saberi Case; The Times (London, UK); May 12, 2009
rachmanism
PRONUNCIATION: (RAK-muh-niz-uhm)
MEANING: noun: The exploitation and intimidation of tenants by landlords
PRONUNCIATION: (RAK-muh-niz-uhm)
MEANING: noun: The exploitation and intimidation of tenants by landlords
ETYMOLOGY: After Peter Rachman (1919-1962), a landlord in London who became notorious for unethical practices including driving out tenants to maximize revenue from his rental properties. Another fellow who got his name in the dictionary for harassing tenants is Charles Boycott (1832-1897), a British land agent in Ireland, whose mistreatment of tenants resulted in his getting ostracized, i.e. he was boycotted.
USAGE: "It is a story of pure Rachmanism. She had been threatened, had her rent cheque refused, her electricity cut off, and seen her absent neighbours' flats cleared of all their possessions, while rubbish was dumped outside her door."Peter Beaumont; Drowned City Cuts Its Poor Adrift; The Observer (London, UK); Dec 11, 2005
NOTES: The term Rachmanism is a Britishism, though unscrupulous landlords are found everywhere. The above usage example is from the UK, but even if not mentioned, it'd be easy to tell: in just one sentence it manages to include four examples that illustrate the spelling and vocabulary differences between British English and American English:cheque/check, neighbour/neighbor, flat/apartment, and rubbish/trash.
mausoleum
PRONUNCIATION: (maw-suh-LEE-uhm, -zuh-)
MEANING: A large tomb, usually an ornate stone building
ETYMOLOGY: After Mausolus, a Persian governor in 4th century BCE. His monumental tomb was considered as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, after which any grand tomb is now called a mausoleum.Also see columbarium.
USAGE: "Wu is leading a delegation to attend the 80th anniversary of the burial of Sun Yat-sen at a mausoleum in Nanjing."Flora Wang and Mo Yan-chih; Chen Chu Praised For Saying President; Taipei Times (Taiwan); May 23, 2009
martinet
PRONUNCIATION: (mar-ti-NET, MAR-ti-net)
MEANING: noun: A strict disciplinarian
ETYMOLOGY: After Jean Martinet, an army officer during the reign of Louis XIV in France. He was a tough drill master known for his strict adherence to rules and discipline. He was killed by friendly fire during the siege of Duisburg in 1672.
USAGE: "Many people believe the agency acts like a martinet. They say the agency is hard-headed and hard-hearted. They say it is dictatorial and unyielding."APA Motives Commendable; Press-Republican (Plattsburgh, New York); May 11, 2009
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