h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

... and denim.

from France.

Do you want us to give at least a beginning of who or why the name came from. Denim is more a city than a person Levi's tho....

Dr Bunsen invented a burner used in most labs.

James Watt for power. He's on every lightbulb in the land.

Ohm for resistance (another german dr)

I'm going away to think up a few more.

Kirby grip - for ladies hair. Dunno who kirby was tho

The Biro Brothers were French pen manufacturers I think

Dunno who Dr Petri was. (those wee pancake like dishes for growing bugs in the lab.

HOLMES is the Home Office Large something or other System. it's a computer program to tie together all the hundreds of statements in a large muder enquiry - a big relational database I think. It's a tribute to Sherlock of course and I've seen his name used to refer to a private detective. Hmmm is that reference more an acronym than an eponym I wonder? A bit of both really.

Does "Private Dick" refer to Dick Tracy? Who was the original Shamus ?American cop of Irish extraction?

It's probably a sign of age if you think MacIntosh is a raincoat not a computer.

Vacuum flasks are sometimes referred to as Dewar flasks. Wee historical note. He was working on it for some time so his mother in law knitted an egg cosy to help keep the contents of his flask OK. The original egg cosy and his first flask were in an exhibition of startups of modern technology in Glasgow a year or two ago so he obviously forgave her Sounds quite a fun mother in law

"Denim is more a city than a person".

Correct, denim is a contraction of de Nimes as in Serge de Nimes, which was the original name of the fabric.

However, my posting was in answer to Mycroft's request for toponyms (which are named after a place)!

Thanks Manolan, I hadn't quite grasped that. And a Toponymorning to you

You mean like Brussels sprouts?

Edinburgh Rock is one thing, Blackpool rock another but that opens the door to rock named after almost any town in the country which is probably cheating

Cheddar Cheese likewise.

Bath buns,Yorkshire pudding, Scottish shortbread, Scotch whiskey etc.

If you think from this that i'm very concerned with food & drink shame on you but it s lunchtime and I've got a to hand as i write. I'd write quicker if I put it down I suppose

Hi Mycroft,

Firstly, I should like to say that I like the article, and am not just trying to be a smart-arse, but are you sure you really mean "synecdochic" here? My understanding that synecdoche specifically means 'referring to the part for the whole' as in "50 sails are approaching from the south, my lord!" to mean "50 ships are approaching etc."

The other term that I was familiar with was 'metonymy', meaning 'a figure os speech in which the name of one thing is used for another related thing, effect for the cause, etc., eg "the bottle" for "alcohol".

Perhaps figures of speech are already covered somewhere in the guide, but if not, I for one would love to see an article laying down some clear definitions and (hopefully funny!) examples. A bit of zeugma always tickles my ribs. Any thoughts?

Spiff

How about quisling meaning traitor?

Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian politician who collaborated with the Nazis

Mr Saxe invented the saxaphone.
Mr Monke (possibly with .. over the u) invented the monkey wrench.



Jonh Luke

I think Quisling is a brilliant one. It is so recent and such a terrible way to be remembered! Plus, I suppose, because I knew the word and wondered what its origins were before I had ever heard of the human being.

I looked up 'maverick' in Microsoft Encarta and this is what I found.

1 N. Amer. an unbranded calf or yearling.
2 an unorthodox or independent-minded person.
named after S. A. Maverick, Texas engineer and rancher d. 1870, who did not brand his cattle

Hi Mycroft,

What went wrong with this? It all seemed so promising!

Spiff

Nothing went wrong exactly, I just stopped doing anything

I'll add a few more at some point this week.

There are hundreds of medical eponyms, along of lines of:

Fabry disease (http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A471296
Gorlin syndrome (http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A616051)
Circle of Willis (part of the blood supply to the brain)
Rathke's pouch (part of the deveoping head and neck in an embryo)
Eustachian tube
Fallopian tube
McBurney's point (where the incision for an appendicectomy is made)

etc. etc.

If you include some, it ought to be pointed out that most teachers of medicine are trying to get them renamed to something more descriptive, as lists of eponyms just make medicine even more difficult to learn than it already is!

Hope that's useful!

Danny B.

How about Mesmer/mesmerise? Tempt you at all?

Oliver Heaviside deduced the existence of a layer of charged particles high up in the atmosphere, a phenomenon today known as the Heaviside layer. It acts like a giant mirror, reflecting radio waves back down to Earth and allowing them to be picked up at great distances from the original transmission point. (per Brendan McWilliams in the Irish Times)



John Luke

Unfortunately, the term Heaviside layer is rarely used these days. It is usually known by its other name: the ionosphere.

Hi Gnomon

I like your work and have read many of your entries. Keep it up. Perhaps I will feel up to submitting a piece some day.

I looked up 'Ionosphere' in Encarta and this is the final paragraph;

The ionosphere is usually divided into two main layers: a lower layer, designated the E layer (sometimes called the Heaviside layer or Kennelly-Heaviside layer), which is between about 80 and 113 km (50 and 70 mi) above the earth's surface and which reflects radio waves of low frequency; and a higher layer, the F, or Appleton, layer, which reflects higher-frequency radio waves. The latter is further divided into an F1 layer, which begins at about 180 km (112 mi) above the earth; and an F2 layer, which begins at about 300 km (186 mi) from the surface. The F layer rises during the night and therefore changes its reflecting characteristics. "Ionosphere," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

So I suppose that the Heaviside layer is a part of the Ionosphere. It still could be a valid entry for 'Eponyms' , though.


John Luke

PS to Gnomon

Who's gonna tell Brendan?

I must now return to my official duties. Bye.


John Luke

Peter Nissen and Sir Hugh Munro come to mind. Are you interested in diseases? There are lots of medical eponyms - Hodgkin, Parkinson, Alzheimer, Meniere, etc - I'm sure a medic could give you lots more. And how about a Platonic relationship? (No, I'm not trying to proposition you, just suggesting eponyms for your research project.) If this is not, as someone suggested, a Herculean task it may well be a Gargantuan one. You may need to wear a Tam-o'-Shanter.

ERNIE (of Premium Bond fame), which was named after a person, but you have to be British to know about this one. It's a combined acronym and eponym, because the man's real name was Ernest.

Do they still talk about Bevan Boys, or Belisha Beacons?

Religious Orders are often named after their founder - eg Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, Marists, and the Poor Clares. And there's Marxist, Maoist, Thatcherite and all that lot. Reaganomics. Religious toponyms would include the Cistercians, the Carthusians and the Carmelites.

Other toponyms: Champagne (and of course lots of other wines etc), Angostura, Curacao, (Eau de) Cologne, Parmesan, Hamburger, Pils(en), Bren gun, Enfield rifle, Bofors gun.

Rubik's Cube.

A number of books, esp reference books, are called by their author or editor rather than title. Baedeker. Wisden. Hansard is a good one - it's never called anything else, even officially. Liddell & Scott, and Lewis & Short, are perhaps too specialised. Grove might be better known, esp in musical circles. Funk & Wagnall? Webster's?

Watergate.