Harvey Wallbangers and Tam O'Shanters: A Book of Eponyms: The People Who Inspired the Words We Use Every Day

 

Did you know that Maria Ann Smith was genuinely a grandmother who died not knowing that she had given the world one of the best varieties of apple? Or that the word tawdry, meaning tacky or tasteless, has its origins in the fate of a seventh-century Saxon princess, Etheldreda, who was canonized and became St. Audrey? An eponym is a word derived from the name of a real, fictional, or mythical character or person and is one of the most fascinating examples of how the English language gains new words. This book takes a colorful look at the phenomenon that is the eponym and, for the first time, gathers together the stories of the people behind the words that have passed into everyday vocabulary.