Vivian Cook

Several common (and many uncommon) words have been formed from people’s names. Sometimes this is the person who discovered something ‘salmonella’, sometime the person who invented or sold a product ‘hoover’, sometimes the person who did something first ‘sandwich’ or had a particular characteristic ‘spoonerism’. Garments seem to have named after the great ‘cardigan’, plants have ‘-tia’ added to the name ‘aubrietia’, minerals the ending ‘-ite’ ‘vivianite’.  

cardigan: Earl of Cardigan, who may have worn a similar garment while leading the Charge of the Light Brigade, mid 19^th C,

boysenberry:  R. Boysen, Californian horticulturist who produced this cross, early 20^th C

bowdlerise: T. Bowdler, who censored Shakespeare to make it acceptable for families, early 19^th C

dieldrin: O. Diels, named after Nobel prizewinning German chemist, 20^th C

loganberry: J.H. Logan, Californian plant breeder produced this cross between a raspberry and a blackberry in about 1881

shrapnel: General H. Shrapnel, English inventor, early 19^th C

waldo: Waldo Jones, the fictional disabled genius in Robert Heinlein’s SF story of the same name, 1942

spoonerism: Rev. W.A. Spooner, Warden of New College, who naturally used them, 20^th C

salmonella: D. Salmon, US vet who was the head of the team that isolated it, 19^th C

forsythia: W. Forsyth, botanist who brought the plant back to England in 1844

clarkia: named after William Clark, American explorer, early 19^th C

gerrymander: Elbridge Gerry Governor of Massachusetts, plus the ‘-mander’ from ‘salamander’, said to derive from the shape that his attempts to redraw electoral boundaries made on the map, late 19^th C.

aubrietia: named after Claude Aubriet, French flower painter 18^th C

biro: László Biró, the Hungarian inventor, mid 20^th C

saxophone: Adolphe Sax, German inventor 19^th C

fuchsia: Leonhard Fuchs, named after 16^th C botanist in 1703

sandwich: John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, who sustained his gambling habit by eating meat between slices of bread, 18^th C

maverick: Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803-70) owned cattle in Texas which he refused to brand 19^th C

boycott: Capt. Boycott, an Irish estate agent, whose workers refused to deal with him, 19^th C 

macadam: J.L. McAdam engineer and inventor, early 19^th C

wellington boots:  first Duke of Wellington, who wore high boots, 19^th C

macintosh: Charles Macintosh, who invented the process, 19^th C

pasteurise: Louis Pasteur, inventor of the process, 19^th C

Words index  Vivian Cook