People Who Became Nouns

Before there were silhouettes, there was a Silhouette. And before there was gerrymandering, there was a Gov. Gerry. It's easy to forget that some of the English language's most common words had real-life namesakes in living, breathing people. Like the Edsel, a disastrous car line that has become synonymous with failure. The line was named after Henry Ford's son Edsel by the company board. Thanks, guys.

Joseph Hooker: Ladies Man

Civil War Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker lent his name to the world's oldest profession because was famously diligent about keeping his troops supplied with female companionship.

Charles Boycott: No Sale

The English army captain and hated land agent for Lord Erne in County Mayo, Ireland, became persona non grata when he attempted to evict 11 tenants -- his neighbors heeded Charles Parnell's call to ostracize and not do business with people like Boycott, instead of resorting to violence. "Boycott" now means to refuse to do business with someone for political reasons.

Henry Shrapnel: Ouch!

English artillery officer Henry Shrapnel lent his name to deadly fragments of artillery, bomb, and mine shells by inventing the first anti-personnel shrapnel shell.

Vidkun Quisling:

Vidkun Quisling betrayed Norway to Nazi Germany and became leader of occupied Norway's collaborationist government, and was executed by firing squad by his countrymen after the war. His very name, quisling, has come to mean "traitor."

Robert Peel:

British Home Secretary Robert Peel lent both his names to nicknames for police officers -- peelers and bobbies -- after he became responsible for founding the the first formal police forces in history. Here: member of Peel's Irish police force in 1851.

Earl of Sandwich:

John Montagu, the fourth earl of Sandwich, was a notable political and military figure in 18th-century Britain, but he's probably best remembered for being the namesake of the sandwich, which he legendarily had a valet invent for him so he could eat meals while hunched over work at his desk. Here: The earl's descendant, John Montagu, the 11th earl of Sandwich digs in at Disneyland Paris.

Axel Paulsen:

Norwegian skater Paulsen performed the first axel jump -- an air jump with a forward takeoff -- in 1882, and now no figureskating competition would be complete without the announcers cooing over triple axels.

Jules Leotard:

French acrobat Jules Leotard didn't just invent the art of the trapeze, he also lent his name to the skin-tight, one-piece outfit that allowed him to keep his limbs free while performing. (He's also the inspiration for the song, "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze." Leotard in 1850.

Guy Fawkes:

The Catholic conspirator who tried to blow up Parliament in 1605 didn't just give us creepy masks and movies from the makers of The Matrix -- he's also the origin of the use of the word "guy" to mean any random man. Here's how: After Fawkes was thwarted and hanged and quartered, the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot became an annual celebration in England. The most popular way to celebrated? By lighting fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes. "Guy" became slang for effigies in general, and then for men wearing unusual clothes, and then just for men in general.

William Spooner:

The Anglican clergyman and Dean of New College Oxford, William Archibald Spooner's frequent verbal slip-ups gave rise to the term "spoonerism," in which one switches the parts of two words in a sentence. For example: "The Lord is a shoving leopard" from "The Lord is a loving shepherd."

Earl Of Cardigan: Button Up

James Thomas Brudenell, seventh earl of Cardigan, led the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War, but we remember him best nowadays because he gave his name to the sweater with buttons down the front.

Amelia Bloomer:

American women's-rights activist and magazine editor Amelia Jenks Bloomer picked up and promoted the wearing of loose pants by women over the restrictice dresses and skirts of the period. Her name became associated with the much-ridiculed fashion.

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin:

Though French physician Joseph Guillotin is often credited with having invented the guillotine, he only suggested that swift decapitation would be more humane, and would quell the public hunger for public executions. His family was so embarrassed that they shared their name with the device that they eventually changed their surname. Another myth -- that Guillotin was executed by the machine that bears his name -- is also false. He died of natural causes.

Rudolf Diesel:

Easy enough to explain: French-born German engineer and inventor Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine in the twilight days of the 19th century. He had nothing, however, to do with overpriced jeans.

James Watt:

The Scottish inventor, known for his improvements of the steam engine, was honored after his death by having the standard unit of the conversion of energy named after him (1 joule/second). But let's not get into James Prescott Joule.

Isaac Newton:

The British mathematician and scientist and all-around standard for genius is honored today with the naming of the newton, the standard unit of force (the amount of force required to accelerate one kilogram at one meter per second per second).

Ambrose Burnside: Hair Today, Trend Tomorrow

Civil War Union Gen. Ambrose Burnside, defeated at Fredericksburg at the Battle of the Crater, had distinctive facial hair that allegedly was dubbed "burnsides" for him, morphing later into "sideburns."

Louis Braille:

Frenchman Louis Braille invented an alphabet of raised bumps for blind people like himself, and it not surprisingly took his name.

Elbridge Gerry:

When Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry redrew the political map of his state to benefit the Democratic-Republican Party in 1812, the Boston Gazette called him on it, publishing a map of the redistricting in which the affected areas were caricatured as a dragon-like salamander. The unnaturally shaped, politically rejiggered districts were dubbed the "Gerry-mander."

Thomas Crapper: Heavy Load

British plumber and businessman Thomas Crapper didnt invent the water closet, but added several important improvements and help popularize it in the late 19th and early 20th century. According to legend, his name became synonymous with the act of defecation. In reality, the word had already been in use for centuries. The fact that his name was Crapper was just a, erm, sweet coincidence.