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Owen in the dictionary...
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 1:45 pm
by thebish
The Dictionary.com word of the day is......
Word of the Day for Thursday, July 15, 2010
brannigan \BRAN-i-guhn\, noun:
1. A carouse.
2. A squabble; a brawl.
Polonius certainly spoke a mouthful of truth to Laertes when he advised him, in effect, "Don't start a Brannigan. But if somebody else does, give 'em hell!
-- Ty Cobb and Al Stump, My life in baseball: the true record
Emerson says in his essay on compensation that those who who would enjoy the wolfish Satisfaction of shovelling it in each Morning must forego the simple Delights of acquiring a Brannigan the Night before.
-- George Ade, Hand-made fables
A brannigan is a case of a word acquiring general meaning after already existing as a family name.
Re: Owen in the dictionary...
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 1:50 pm
by Zulus Thousand of em
thebish wrote:The Dictionary.com word of the day is......
Word of the Day for Thursday, July 15, 2010
brannigan \BRAN-i-guhn\, noun:
1. A carouse.
2. A squabble; a brawl.
Polonius certainly spoke a mouthful of truth to Laertes when he advised him, in effect, "Don't start a Brannigan. But if somebody else does, give 'em hell!
-- Ty Cobb and Al Stump, My life in baseball: the true record
Emerson says in his essay on compensation that those who who would enjoy the wolfish Satisfaction of shovelling it in each Morning must forego the simple Delights of acquiring a Brannigan the Night before.
-- George Ade, Hand-made fables
A brannigan is a case of a word acquiring general meaning after already existing as a family name.
Boycott is another example.
And Shrapnel.
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 1:53 pm
by thebish
bugger me backwards - why did I say Owen???
(I think I am mixing the famous bass soloist with the legendary bolton keeper)
bass soloist Owen:
Bolton keeper Keith:
Re: Owen in the dictionary...
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:37 pm
by Little Green Man
Zulus Thousand of em wrote:
Boycott is another example.
And Shrapnel.
And Silhouette
And Hooligan
And Moat
OK, I lied about the last one.
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 3:59 pm
by thebish
hmmm... eponyms.
from the fashion world... Amelia Bloomer, an American feminist of the 1800s, championed the undergarment known as bloomers. And the French aerialist Jules Leotard, creator of the flying trapeze, popularized the even more daring tights.
more topically - golf - Bertha Krupp, a German military manufacturer during World War I. Her firm made a giant howitzer that British soldiers dubbed Big Bertha. But the hefty arms merchant has been redeemed through sport: Contemporary golfers refer to her fondly as they swing the innovative driver named -- what else? -- Big Bertha.
(culled from..
http://www.rd.com/people-who-become-wor ... 12148.html)
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:35 pm
by Gary the Enfield
Thomas CRAPPER
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:49 pm
by thebish
Percival Wankstain
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 5:29 pm
by Prufrock
Gary the Enfield wrote:Thomas CRAPPER
Was just coincidentally named. The word 'crap' already existed.
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 5:36 pm
by Worthy4England
Prufrock wrote:Gary the Enfield wrote:Thomas CRAPPER
Was just coincidentally named. The word 'crap' already existed.
Aye but did we have crappers, to do said crap upon?
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 5:48 pm
by Prufrock
Worthy4England wrote:Prufrock wrote:Gary the Enfield wrote:Thomas CRAPPER
Was just coincidentally named. The word 'crap' already existed.
Aye but did we have crappers, to do said crap upon?
Somehow I imagine the word 'crapper' meaning toilet comes from the word 'crap' as opposed to his name
.
He did however invent, not the flushing toilet, but the wonderfully named 'ball-cock'.
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 5:51 pm
by thebish
Prufrock wrote:Worthy4England wrote:Prufrock wrote:Gary the Enfield wrote:Thomas CRAPPER
Was just coincidentally named. The word 'crap' already existed.
Aye but did we have crappers, to do said crap upon?
Somehow I imagine the word 'crapper' meaning toilet comes from the word 'crap' as opposed to his name
.
He did however invent, not the flushing toilet, but the wonderfully named 'ball-cock'.
the ball-cock was named after Cannon & Ball. when they used come on - people used to shout "cock!" - hence - "Canon and ball - cock" - later shortened to "ball-cock" - meaning summat to be flushed away quickly and without fuss... FACT
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 7:22 pm
by bobo the clown
thebish wrote:Prufrock wrote:Worthy4England wrote:Prufrock wrote:Gary the Enfield wrote:Thomas CRAPPER
Was just coincidentally named. The word 'crap' already existed.
Aye but did we have crappers, to do said crap upon?
Somehow I imagine the word 'crapper' meaning toilet comes from the word 'crap' as opposed to his name
.
He did however invent, not the flushing toilet, but the wonderfully named 'ball-cock'.
the ball-cock was named after Cannon & Ball. when they used come on - people used to shout "cock!" - hence - "Canon and ball - cock" - later shortened to "ball-cock" - meaning summat to be flushed away quickly and without fuss... FACT
We should not go any further into the Blackburn invention of the Sis-Turn !
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 6:08 pm
by Randy Watson
ouuhhhh arrrhhhhh
Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 3:14 pm
by Montreal Wanderer
Prufrock wrote:Gary the Enfield wrote:Thomas CRAPPER
Was just coincidentally named. The word 'crap' already existed.
Hold on a second. Certainly the noun 'crap' already existed from early times but, according to the OED, was first noted to mean excrement in 1896 after Thomas had done his thing (so to speak). As a verb it was also a C19th coinage. The term crapper to refer to a water closet came as an eponym from Thomas who proudly put his name on the bowl, so we cannot brush it off as mere coincidence.