Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler For the language / etymology fans

People who became nouns: a great article/gallery about historical people behind the coining of new words.

Neat stuff. Thanks for posting.... I had no idea that the origin of some of those words were from names!

There's some common phrases which have some intersting origins...such as "dead ringer". Years ago they used to tie a string to the "deceased" in their coffin when they buried them which was attached to a bell above ground, just in case they were still alive(apparently burying the living by mistake was a problem in those days).

Remember, remember the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!

I believe this was from the plague years, where people were in a coma from the fever and thought to be dead.

Sure seems like it would have been a lot easier if they just stored them for a few days, then buried the stinky ones.

But then how would have stories of zombies and other supernatural beings.

"Bow down before the mighty death sniffers. Bow down."

This might have given the Harry Potter stories a different twist.

Apropos - check out this link. The basic theory is that witch doctors have poisoned people, turning them into vegetables that can be used for slave labor. The story pops up after one of these "nzambes" returned to his village after being "dead" for a decade or so.

http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/hold-for-buck-edited-how-to-make-a-zombie-haiti-style/19638134?icid=main|main|dl5|sec1_lnk3|172463