Science, Snacks and Protests: Examples of Eponyms
While 18th-century British politician John Montagu wasn't the first person to put meat between two slices of bread, he may have helped popularize it in London.
It's believed that Montagu, whose official title was the Earl of Sandwich, may have seen meat put between bread slices while traveling in the Ottoman Empire. When he returned to London, he's said to have asked for the same food to be made for him, and it soon became extremely popular — so it was named a "sandwich" after him.
"Sandwich" is an example of an eponym, which is when the word for something comes from a person's name.
Eponyms are common in science. For example, diesel fuel was named after French-German engineer Rudolf Diesel, who invented the type of engine that uses it in the 1890s.
And nicotine, the chemical found in tobacco, was named after Jean Nicot, the French ambassador to Portugal who sent tobacco seeds and leaves from Portugal's colony in Brazil off to France in 1561.
Eponyms are found outside of science too. The original version of "sideburns" — hair growing on both sides of the face in front of the ears — were called "burnsides."
That name came from General Ambrose Burnside, a 19th-century businessman and politician known for his prodigious facial hair, which went from the sides of his face and connected to a large mustache, with no hair on his chin. The term "Burnside whiskers" was soon reversed and became "sideburns."
Finally, "boycotts" are a popular form of protest around the world. And the word comes from how one group of Irish farmers decided to deal with Captain Charles C. Boycott.
Boycott managed property in County Mayo, Ireland. In September 1880, after a bad harvest left some farmers who lived on the land unable to pay rent, Boycott tried to have 11 of them evicted.
In response, the local community refused to do any business with Boycott. People wouldn't work for him and local shops wouldn't sell to him, making him the first person to be what we now call "boycotted."
