A New Dictionary of Eponyms

Do you approve of censoring the works of great writers? Some might contend that to bowdlerize a great writer''s work would be to diminish its overall quality. Others like Thomas Bowdler whose eraser danced over every Shakespeare play would argue that all modest people should be able to read a great work without blushing. For attacking the classics Mr. Bowdler has been immortalized as the world''s best-known self-appointed literary censor. And because of his efforts the term bowdlerize has become eponymous with his name. Alternatively the word bikini--defined as a two-piece bathing suit for women--has been a linguistic mystery since 1947 when these suits were first seen on the beaches of the French Riviera a year after the United States began testing atom bombs on the Bikini atoll of the Marshall Islands. Some shocked people said that the impact of the scanty swimsuit on male beach loungers was like the devastating effect of the atomic bomb. Whoosh! A simpler and more credible notion is that the daring swimsuits resembled the attire worn by women on the Bikini atoll. Created about a century ago the term eponym is itself a coinage from two Greek words epi on or upon and onuma a name. But its broadened meaning as dictionaries set it out refers to a word derived from a proper name. For instance Salisbury steak--a popular diner menu item created from common hamburger and dressed up with brown gravy to make it more appealing--is named after James H. Salisbury an English physician who promoted a diet of ground beef. A Dictionary of Eponyms explores the origins of hundreds of these everyday words from Argyle socks to zeppelins. Written in an entertaining and anecdotal style and with a foreword by Edwin Newman the book includes a brief biography of the individual whose name became associated with an item or concept as well as information on how and when the name entered the language. If you''ve ever wondered just where terms like cardigan sweater pamphlet and robot come from Morton Freeman does more than simply define them--he brings them to life.