251–260 of 346 posts
I thought the Pap Test was an acronym (PAP) but it's actually named after the physician that invented it, Papanicolaou: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pap_test
The test is known as papanicolau in my country, but so many people think it's named after one of the ancient popes called Nikolaus ("papa Nicolau")...
Borders Books (for anyone who remembers it) was named after founders Tom and Louis Borders. Louis went on to found Webvan (for anyone who remembers that ).
Yes, things are often named after people. That alone does not make it unexpected and notable here. -self-appointed policeman of this thing
Algorithms: Named after Al-Khwarizmi Algebra: Named after his book, Al-jabr. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Khwarizmi
Algorithms: Named after Al-Khwarizmi Algebra: Named after his book, Al-jabr. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Khwarizmi
That first one sounds so much like a folky, jokey etymology, and yet, it’s true… Given the existence of “logarithms”, it’s doubly surprising…hey, why are they called that? Wikipedia says “Napier coined the term for logarithm in Middle Latin, "logarithmus," derived from the Greek, literally meaning, "ratio-number," from logos "proportion, ratio, word" + arithmos "number".”
The generic Hungarian word for trash cans, 'kuka', unexpectedly originates from the names of German industrialists Johann Josef Keller and Jakob Knappich. The story is quite involved, to the extent that one would be tempted to dismiss it as a folk etymology, if it wasn't ridiculously well-attested. Keller and Knappich founded an acetylene factory in Augsburg, Bavaria in 1898. They named it Keller und Knappich Augsbur…
The most common word in Japanese for “stapler” is hochikisu or hotchikisu , which seems to come from the name of the E.F. Hotchkiss Company [1], an American manufacturer whose staplers were imported to Japan in the early 20th century. Some Japanese sources [2] say that the word comes from Benjamin Hotchkiss [3], an inventor of machine guns, and that is what I learned many years ago, but that etymology apparently has…
Not quite the same, but the city of Washington, DC is named after George Washington, whose family hails from the town of Washington in northeast England. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_Tyne_and_Wear
Charlemagne: word for 'king' in many European countries derive from his name (german 'Karl', polish 'Krol', Lithuanian, ...)
I guess everyone knows that the Bell System was named after some phone guy, so maybe it's more of an aptonym, but seems worth including on the list for completeness.