5 Things You Didn't Realize Were Named After People

An eponym is a word derived from the name of a person, real or fictional. These terms permeate various fields, from science to everyday language, immortalizing the names of their originators.

Once example in science, "is volt," the unit of electric potential, commemorates Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist who invented the electric battery. Another example is "cardigan," named after James Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan, who popularized the knitted jacket worn by British soldiers during the Crimean War.

However as language drifts toward cliche, these terms often become completely alienated from their human roots. This video looks at 5 overlooked eponyms that you might encounter on a daily basis.

[iamreliable]

I once gaslit my friend into believing that diesel is named after Vin Diesel

[DoctorKidemonas]

It goes deeper: Cassell trademarked Cazeline, and so to avoid getting sued for copyright infringement, other oil-sellers began calling their product "gasoline oil" — obviously the same thing, but different enough you can't prove it. Gasoline stuck long after the original cazeline brand died out. Most countries later adopted the name "petroleum" from latin "petra oleum", meaning rock oil, but gasoline had stuck in America.

[adrielsebastian]

Something else named after a person: shrapnel! Henry Shrapnel was a British army officer who experimented and eventually designed the first shrapnel shell

[-vaco-]

The fact that the guy who invented a unit for sound was named "bell" and the person who found out about a food-borne illness was named "salmon" is really funny to me

[imfukinginvincible]

John Backflip was the first person to ever do a flip, and he first performed the stunt in 1316. People came from all around Europe to see this. until his nemesis, William Front Flip, came to town

[sssnnnaaa]

More fun ones:
Boycott was named after an English guy in Ireland (Charles Boycott) who started evicting people who couldn’t pay their rents after a poor harvest year, and the townspeople refused to do business with him or even deliver his mail. He also couldn’t get anyone to work his fields or in his house.

The term “guy” is named after Guy Fawkes (and originally it was an insult).

Nicotine was named after the French ambassador to Spain (Jean Nicot)

Leotards were named after their inventor, Jules Léotard, who was a popular trapeze artist in the mid 1800s.

Dunce is posthumously coined after John Duns Scotus after people read his work and thought anyone agreeing with him was an idiot.

Sideburns are named after Ambrose Burnside, who has such long sideburns that they joined his moustache.

Tarmac was named after John MacAdam (combo of “tar” and “Mac”).

Macadamia nuts were named after a different guy named John MacAdam.

Uzis were named after their designer (Uziel Gal) who specifically requested that they not be named after him.

[Edmada]

Good thing he named the instrument after his surname instead of his first name

[tubeo]

The deci-Bell will never be forgotten. Every time sound engineers have argument about the loudness they throw physic theories, histories all the way back to the beginning of time just to win an online argument.

[Julian-reey]

The gasoline guy I didn’t know, but the Diesel guy is actually pretty famous here in Germany. I believe it’s because of his contribution with the Dieselmotor for U-Boats and Panzer in both world wars.

[tay-lore]

To be fair, as someone who really loves the bass clarinet, I often have very fond thoughts of Adolphe Sax. He and his family were instrument craftsfolk, and he was a particularly masterful bass clarinet craftsman before he invented the saxophone. That's why he was able to create such a beautiful new instrument!

[spamrisk]

"Hello fellow inventors, my name is John Combustible Engine."

[Brlin-vx-Anas-Qazi]

Time Traveller: Hits a pebble

The timeline:

Adolf Sax, the dictator of Germany
Adolf Hitler, creator of Hitlophone.

[terencetam]

“Adolphe Sax’s vile sounding O-phone” - Montgomery Burns

[trickyrichard]

It was then shortened to "gas" causing every single non american to have an aneurism at the idea that we call a liquid a gas.

[Lop]

In Germany we used to refer to the couple of seconds you had to let diesel engines preheat as the "Rudolf Diesel Gedenkminute", "Minute of silence for Rudolf Diesel". I never was quite sure if that was a joke or not.

[anglcflths]

I feel bad for Adolf Sax because...his first name is literally Adolf and his second name sounds like...

[djgrizzly]

I did always think it was weird that we called it GASoline when it's clearly a liquid lmao

[DreadEnder]

When the internet cuts out:
“Saxophone was invented by adolf-“

[shezagachalife]

In french we say "poubelle" for trash cans, the word "poubelle" comes from the name of Eugène Poubelle, a French prefect of the Seine. In 1884, he implemented a regulation requiring the use of containers to collect household waste. These containers were quickly called "poubelles" in reference to his name.

[Choopyblooo]

I always thought that salmonella was named by a person who ate a raw salmon then got salmonella