Currying (of functions) named after Haskell Curry[1], after whom Haskell is also named.
Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)
311–320 of 346 posts
Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)
#312Canada geese are named after John Canada, which I didn’t expect.
Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)
#313Thomas Crapper sold an improved toilet with his name marked on them, which were popular in England. US soldiers stationed there started referring to toilets as "the crapper", possibly because in the US "crap" still meant "refuse", a specific sort of which was ingested by the crapper. [1]
The toilet is also called the "john" because John Harrington invented the first flushing toilet in Britain. [2]
In British usage, "to hoover" means "to vacuum [e.g. a carpet]" or "to suck up as if by a vacuum cleaner" (e.g. "tech companies hoover up as much user data as they can"). Murray Spangler, a janitor, invented a vacuum cleaner to avoid aggravating his asthma while cleaning. W. H. Hoover bought his patent and founded the Hoover company, which sold the devices which hoovered the dirt. [3]
[1] https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/05/why-the-toi...
[2] https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/08/why-the-toi...
Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)
#314Panettone, "Tony's bread." Or at least that's what my Italian acct. prof. insisted. Interestingly the Italian wiki entry is a lot longer than the English one and references this apparent urban legend.
> From Milanese Lombard panaton, an augmentative of pan (“bread”).
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/panettone
More on the subject:
> Italian has several augmentatives:
-one, -ona, found also in several English loanwords from Italian, often via French: minestrone (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmentative
Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)
#315I've driven the Outerbridge Crossing probably hundreds of times. That one is blowing my mind.
The other NYC bridges are all (I think?) named Bridge, but they went with Crossing here because Outerbridge Bridge sounds weird. Another NYC one: A lot of people think "major" in The Major Deegan Expressway means it is a significant expressway, but actually the expressway is named after (Army) Major William Deegan
Interestingly for New Yorkers, what you might think is the West Cross Parkway is actually named after Wilbur Cross.
Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)
#316tarmac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Loudon_McAdam
Parenthetically, there is no tarmac at any airport because the rock chips would get blown around and wreck the planes and jet engines.
Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)
#317Main Street in San Francisco was named after Charles Main. https://mountainviewpeople.blogspot.com/2007/09/charles-main... Here are some more interesting ones... * Mason jar was named after John Landis Mason, 19th century American tinsmith * Guppy (fish) was named after Robert John Lechmere Guppy, 19th century British naturalist * Silhouette was named after Étienne de Silhouette, 18th century French politican * Bloom…
"Silhouette" was a surprise when I'd learned of it a few years back.
The backstory: he was a financial minister and an advocate of austerity, such that when the practice of creating simple, cheap, shadow-profile head portraits of people emerged, his name was applied to them.
Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)
#318Discussed at the time: Things Unexpectedly Named After People - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23888725 - July 2020 (289 comments)
Didn't think this needed 2020 because it contains an updated addition for 2024 (possibly based on contributions from HN). A different/weird one.
Posts that were written in $Year1 but got updated in $Year2 are a perennial edge case that can break either way.
The article itself still says 2020 so I guess we go with that for now.
Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)
#319Main Street in San Francisco was named after Charles Main. https://mountainviewpeople.blogspot.com/2007/09/charles-main... Here are some more interesting ones... * Mason jar was named after John Landis Mason, 19th century American tinsmith * Guppy (fish) was named after Robert John Lechmere Guppy, 19th century British naturalist * Silhouette was named after Étienne de Silhouette, 18th century French politican * Bloom…
Might have been named after Shinzo Abe.
Was it that bad of a pun?
Figured a politician like Abe would have quite a few Abe-rants…
Re: Things unexpectedly named after people (2020)
#320Bridgestone, the Japanese tire manufacturer, is named after its founder, Shojiro Ishibashi. His surname means “stone bridge”. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgestone
Firestone is from Harvey S. Firestone though. Interesting that two companies with similar names had different origins, yet one would acquire the other many years later.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_Tire_and_Rubber_Co...