Bogarting Eponyms

Figaro goes maverick in this Chicago Tribune piece about eponyms—words named after people. “Eponym” comes from the Greek, meaning “upon a name.”

Comments

[lj]

Good stuff--but you've got "bogart" wrong! It's not about tossing something away, it means holding on to it while it burns away (instead of passing it to somebody else). The way I understood it, the word is inspired by the cigarette that Bogie constantly had in his mouth, but rarely took a drag from.

[Figaro]

It's not my piece, lj. I was just quoted in it. But thanks for the important clarification. I can honestly say that with all my sins I've never once bogarted a joint. Even though my brother in law called me Roach, explaining that a roach was a "half-assed J."

[Michele E.]

So are eponyms a form of periphrasis? The article just had me wondering. Thanks!

[Figaro]

The eponym is the opposite of periphrasis, Michele. While the eponym uses a person's name, the periphrasis (a form of circumlocution, "speaking around") avoids the name.

Periphrasis: "He Who Must Not Be Named."
Eponym: "The hedge fund voldemorted, the company's mission, turning it into a force for evil."