Philosophy
Eponymy is when a word is made out of a name. Think of "champagne" which now refers to the drink more than the region from whence it comes. Science is full of eponyms from Newton's laws to Huntington's disease to units of measure like the joule or the watt to inventions like the diesel engine or Morse code. Many come from literature, for example, Achilles heel, or from properties of historical figures, consider the term sideburns. We are hearing the verb "to tebow" quite frequently in the media.
Are there new eponyms that should be added to the language? Properties or characteristics of contemporary figures that can be used to coin new terms? "Obamized" -- when you take a modern Republican position and get called a socialist for it? To "romney" -- betting on both sides of a game? Others?
- Putnam, Semantics, And Fake Pot
As I listened to this story on Morning Edition on the way in to the office about the dangers associated with synthetic marijuana, I couldn't help but think of one of Hilary Putnam's classic articles. The story concerns legislative reactions to...
- Muhammed Ali And Tim Tebow
Today is Muhammad Ali's 70th birthday. Ali was not only one of, possibly, the greatest to ever walk into a boxing ring, but was a major social figure who was outspoken on the issues of the day. He spoke out against the war in Vietnam and...
- Hillary Clinton And The Sexist Chicken And Egg
The postmortems of Hillary Clinton's Presidential run (Aspazia's is the one that started me on this question, although the folks at Shakesville have been all over this from the start) have all rightly mentioned the blatant and horrible sexism...
- Rumble 2012 - Bill O'reilly Vs Jon Stewart
The recent presidential debate between Romney and Obama turned out to be a disaster. Romney came loaded with a semi-automatic shotgun full of soundbites and lies, he threatened to fire Big Bird, and once again flipped flopped on his position (I've...
- Apparently Mitt Romney Can't Stand Half Of All Americans, And Most Of Them Are Conservatives And The Elderly...
You may have heard a few days ago that Mother Jones released a devastating series of videos showcasing Mitt Romney talking to a bunch of rich buddies and donors, and saying what he REALLY thinks about poor people when he doesn't know there's a...
Philosophy
Neo-eponyms
Eponymy is when a word is made out of a name. Think of "champagne" which now refers to the drink more than the region from whence it comes. Science is full of eponyms from Newton's laws to Huntington's disease to units of measure like the joule or the watt to inventions like the diesel engine or Morse code. Many come from literature, for example, Achilles heel, or from properties of historical figures, consider the term sideburns. We are hearing the verb "to tebow" quite frequently in the media.
Are there new eponyms that should be added to the language? Properties or characteristics of contemporary figures that can be used to coin new terms? "Obamized" -- when you take a modern Republican position and get called a socialist for it? To "romney" -- betting on both sides of a game? Others?
- Putnam, Semantics, And Fake Pot
As I listened to this story on Morning Edition on the way in to the office about the dangers associated with synthetic marijuana, I couldn't help but think of one of Hilary Putnam's classic articles. The story concerns legislative reactions to...
- Muhammed Ali And Tim Tebow
Today is Muhammad Ali's 70th birthday. Ali was not only one of, possibly, the greatest to ever walk into a boxing ring, but was a major social figure who was outspoken on the issues of the day. He spoke out against the war in Vietnam and...
- Hillary Clinton And The Sexist Chicken And Egg
The postmortems of Hillary Clinton's Presidential run (Aspazia's is the one that started me on this question, although the folks at Shakesville have been all over this from the start) have all rightly mentioned the blatant and horrible sexism...
- Rumble 2012 - Bill O'reilly Vs Jon Stewart
The recent presidential debate between Romney and Obama turned out to be a disaster. Romney came loaded with a semi-automatic shotgun full of soundbites and lies, he threatened to fire Big Bird, and once again flipped flopped on his position (I've...
- Apparently Mitt Romney Can't Stand Half Of All Americans, And Most Of Them Are Conservatives And The Elderly...
You may have heard a few days ago that Mother Jones released a devastating series of videos showcasing Mitt Romney talking to a bunch of rich buddies and donors, and saying what he REALLY thinks about poor people when he doesn't know there's a...