SHASHI THAROOR The namesake
When a name or a noun is drawn from a famous person
Eponym comes from the Greek eponymous “given as a name, giving one’s name to something,” as a plural noun (short for eponymoi, heroes) denoting founders(legendaryorreal)oftribesorcities. Thustheamericancapitalinwashingtondc was never the residence of its eponymous first President, George Washington. When you speak of the Victorian era you are referringtotheperiodofitseponymousmonarch, Queen Victoria. The Modi government is headed by its eponymous Prime Minister, Narendramodi;obamacareisahealthinsuranceschemenamedforitseponymouspresident,barackobama;thatcherismisaneconomicphilosophyoflaissez-fairecapitalism namedforitsstridentadvocate,primeminister Margaret Thatcher.
Eponyms are not merely useful for referring to politics. A Tudor building refers to a stylemadepopularduringtheruleofitseponymous British dynasty, and a Georgian square to the eponymous King George III. “Thoseedwardianyoungmeninspats”suggeststheyouthinquestionlivedinthetimeof Britain’s first post-victorian monarch King Edwardvii.bowlerhats,thenwornbythose men in spats, were invented by the eponymouswilliambowler.queenannefurniture alludestotheeponymousbritishmonarchof the beginning of the 18th century.
Common household products also refer, oftenunknowingly,totheireponymouscreators. “I’ll Hoover it up” comes from the inventorofthevacuum-cleanerthatborehis name; “I need to fill up some diesel” takes its name from the eponymous German, Rudolf Diesel,whoinventedthatfuel;“let’stakethe kids on the Ferris wheel” credits the eponymous engineer who first came up with that enormouscontraptiontowhirlseatedpeople around for pleasure. If you want to hop into the jacuzzi, you are tipping your hat (or doffingyourclothes)toaneponymouspairof Italian brothers. If you slip on some leotards,there’saneponymousfrenchfashion designer, Jacques Leotard, you’re memorialising. And if you eat a sandwich,youarepayingtributetotheinveterate gambler the eponymous Earl of Sandwich, who had the snack invented forhimsohedidn’thavetointerrupthis card games for a meal. When I visited Sudaninthelate1970s,itwascommonto hear people saying “I’ll pick you up in my Tata,” without being conscious of the eponymous Indian vehicle manufacturer.
One “boycotts” people throughout the English-speaking world without knowingathingabouttheeponymous Captain Boycott whose unpopularity led to the term. I may as well stop here for fear of being boycotted myself….