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Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)

notes.rolandcrosby.com

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Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)

#271

Post by atq2119 »

rob74 wrote: post #154
msiemens wrote: post #127

A few German companies: - Aldi (supermarket chain), founded by the Albrecht brothers, thus AL brecht DI skont - Adidas, founded by AD olf DAS sler - Mercedes-Benz, named by Emil Jellinek-Mercedes after his daughter Mercedes, initially with Daimler which then merged with Benz - Audi, founded by August Horch. Initially founded as _A. Horch & Cie. Motorwagenwerke Zwickau_, he later lost the rights to the name "Horch". H…

I sometimes feel that German founders are too stuck on naming their company after themself, some of them really should have looked for alternatives, e.g. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppelfricke

Fun fact: It was originally legally mandated that if you form a business, it just be named after you.

Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)

#274

Post by djaychela »

pronik wrote: post #192
msiemens wrote: post #127

A few German companies: - Aldi (supermarket chain), founded by the Albrecht brothers, thus AL brecht DI skont - Adidas, founded by AD olf DAS sler - Mercedes-Benz, named by Emil Jellinek-Mercedes after his daughter Mercedes, initially with Daimler which then merged with Benz - Audi, founded by August Horch. Initially founded as _A. Horch & Cie. Motorwagenwerke Zwickau_, he later lost the rights to the name "Horch". H…

You can certainly argue that Adolf's diminutive has been used for Adidas: ADI DASsler.

I believe that's the case, it also settled any arguments over pronunciation - it's not A-dee-das as I used to think!

Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)

#277

Post by mckn1ght »

madcaptenor wrote: post #254
tamimio wrote: post #51

Algorithms: Named after Al-Khwarizmi Algebra: Named after his book, Al-jabr. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Khwarizmi

No, algorithms are named after Al Gore.

No, an Al-Gore-ithm is one of his nuggets of wisdom when repeated by someone with a lisp

Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)

#278

Post by Hunpeter »

lb1lf wrote: post #165
saithound wrote: post #62

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…

Incidentally, 'kuk' is a Norwegian word, a somewhat pejorative synonym for 'penis', but almost as versatile as the four-letter word - it can be used as an adjective, a verb, an adverb, a noun etc. Saying that 'something is kuka/kuket' means it is messed up beyond repair. Even as I approach my fifties, I have to stifle a chuckle every time I see a KUKA robot. Kids never really grow up, I guess. As for things named aft…

Interesting! "Kuki" in Hungarian is a children's word for penis. I assume it's a nickname for "kukac", meaning worm/maggot (which, btw, is the same word we use for the @ symbol).

Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)

#279

Post by mrbait »

timeon wrote: post #209
block_dagger wrote: post #4

I exclaimed out loud when I read about MySQL. I never liked the name before, and now I do.

I wonder what is proper pronunciation.

It seems to be Swedish in origin, in which case the closest English equivalent would be "mee" or "mew".

Roughly speaking, the here is close to what is traditionally transcribed in English as [i:], except rounded, i.e. [y:].

Many caveats apply, this probably being Finnish Swedish (which should have the same or a similar vowel), my Swedish being rather rudimentary, etc.

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