LUYỆN DỊCH ANH VIỆT 4

Some Obscure Eponyms 20 words When something is named after a person or a place or a company, we call that name an eponym. If you know anyone who says "Get me a Kleenex" instead of "Get me a tissue," they are using an eponym every time they have to sneeze. Eponyms are everywhere- in science, medicine, the arts. This list focuses on words that are historically eponyms but are so common that their history of deriving from names has been obscured. In this list, the history of eponyms you didn't realize were eponyms is revealed. 1. saxophone a single-reed woodwind with a conical bore NOTES: It's pretty clear that the Sousaphone was named after John Phillip Sousa, but the Saxophone is named after its inventor, a Belgian musical instrument designer named Adolphe Sax. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: He has never had any formal voice training, but plays the drums and saxophone and a little keyboard by ear. —Washington Times May 13, 2014 2. bougainvillea any of several South American ornamental woody vines of the genus Bougainvillea having brilliant red or purple flower bracts; widely grown in warm regions NOTES: The plant was discovered by Louis Anton de Bougainville, an 18th century French explorer, and is named after him. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: The landscape is a gardener’s dream, dotted with mature oak and magnolia trees, hydrangeas, bougainvillea, and roses, and it has plentiful space for additional greenery. —Architectural Digest Dec 23, 2013 3. braille a point system of writing in which patterns of raised dots represent letters and numerals NOTES: Frenchman Louis Braille went blind as a child and developed his system of writing for the blind in 1824. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: A small number of chain restaurants offer menus in braille; sometimes, they're even up to date. —The Guardian May 22, 2014 4. bloomers underpants worn by women NOTES: Amelia Bloomer did not invent bloomers, but she was so strongly associated with the Women's Rights movement that the revolutionary undergarment bears her name. Bloomer published a newspaper concerned with women's issues and was even a strong presence at the famed Seneca Falls Convention with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Lady cyclists inspired outrage and ridicule in the late nineteenth century when they sallied forth in bloomers, which were subsequently adopted by the suffrage movement. —The New Yorker Jun 6, 2014 5. chauvinism fanatical patriotism NOTES: It is doubtful that Nicolas Chauvin really existed, but the term that bares "his" name lives on. Chauvin, it is said, was a badly wounded, poorly compensated soldier who was nonetheless still loyal to Napolean, even after the leader himself abdicated. Chauvinism has come to be used as shorthand for "male chauvinism" but in it's original use it meant fanatical patriotism, and by extension, fanatical devotion to any cause even in the face of overwhelming opposition. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Nick Clegg is due to warn against letting the "forces of insularity and chauvinism" dictate Britain's future in Europe. —BBC May 19, 2014 6. Cyrillic an alphabet derived from the Greek alphabet and used for writing Slavic languages (Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and some other Slavic languages) NOTES: Saint Cyril was a 9th Century missionary who helped devise a writing system to translate the Bible into the languages of the Slavic peoples. 7. diesel an internal-combustion engine that burns heavy oil NOTES: The development of the Diesel engine, an important engineering feat, was the work of Rudolph Diesel in the late 19th Century. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Volvo hasn’t committed to bringing the plug-in diesel vehicle to the United States, since diesels make up such a small part of the U.S. market. —Forbes Jun 5, 2014 8. dunce cap a cone-shaped paper hat formerly placed on the head of slow or lazy pupils NOTES: John Duns Scotus was actually a well-respected philosopher in his day, that day being the 13th century, and it was not until the 1500s, in a reaction against Scotus' ideas, that a "dunce", a follower of Duns, became a subject of ridicule, leading to the cap that labels one as "incapable of scholarship." EXAMPLE SENTENCE: When it comes to bad decision making, these folks deserve their dunce caps. —Newsweek Apr 23, 2010 9. fuschia a dark purplish-red color NOTES: The flowering plant was named by its discoverer, Charles Plumier, in the late 1600s in honor of a botanist from the previous century, Leonhart Fuchs. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Begin with some of the common herbaceous bedding-plants, such as geranium, coleus, or fuschia. —Ontario Ministry of Education 10. Uzi a type of submachine gun that is designed and manufactured in Israel NOTES: This gun was designed by Major Uziel Gal in the 1940s. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: He delivered us to our hotel, where the man on the door was carrying a semi-automatic full-size Uzi pistol. —BBC Jun 23, 2013 11. gardenia any of various shrubs and small trees of the genus Gardenia having large fragrant white or yellow flowers NOTES: Another flower discovered by someone and named in tribute to someone else, this plant was discovered by Carl Linnaeus ( whose classification of the natural world was an influence on Darwin) and named for Dr. Alexander Garden. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Gardenia, one of the South's iconic shrubs, begins perfuming the air. —Southern Living May 13, 2013 12. lynching putting a person to death by mob action without due process of law NOTES: The status of this eponym is a little unclear. The most probable candidate is William Lynch, who lead a group dispensing vigilante justice in 1780s. The other candidate is Charles Lynch, who fined and imprisoned British Loyalists at about the same time. Either way, lynching at this time referred to a wide variety of punishments, not exclusively the act of hanging it became identified with. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: In addition to the killings by organized groups, individual vigilante mobs carried out retaliatory lynchings, Amnesty said in its report. —New York Times Feb 12, 2014 13. mausoleum a large burial chamber, usually above ground NOTES: Named after Mausolus, a ruler of part of the Greek Empire in the 4th Century B.C.E. His burial chamber, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Visiting foreign leaders normally make a trip to the mausoleum of Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. —BBC Jun 9, 2014 14. macadam a paved surface having compressed layers of broken rocks held together with tar NOTES: John Loudon McAdam invented this method of paving roads in the 1820s. Originally involving small stones and a binding agent, the technology has changed over the years but the basic principle has remained the same. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: The first eight mile of that road is pretty good macadam and hard dirt. — Joseph C. Lincoln 15. nicotine an alkaloid poison that occurs in tobacco; used in medicine and as an insecticide NOTES: Jean Nicot, the French ambassador to Portugal, brought tobacco plants to France from a trip to Portugal in 1559. Originally touted for its supposed medicinal properties, the plant and later the molecule were named for Nicot. 16. pyrrhic of or relating to or resembling Pyrrhus or his exploits (especially his sustaining staggering losses in order to defeat the Romans) NOTES: Pyrrhus of Epirus (319-272 B.C.E.) was a Greek and a staunch opponent of Roman rule, willing to sustain heavy losses for a victory. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: But the victims might only, at best, achieve a pyrrhic victory: Should they win, they would still have to collect a judgment. —Slate Feb 13, 2014 17. serendipity good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries NOTES: From the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip first referenced in English by Horace Walpole, the 4th Earl of Orford and son of England's first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole. Serendip is an old name for what is now Sri Lanka. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Intriguingly, in a demonstration of the importance of serendipity in science, this was not a hypothesis they had set out to prove. —Economist May 29, 2014 18. sideburn facial hair that has grown down the side of a man's face in front of the ears (especially when the rest of the beard is shaved off) NOTES: Ambrose Burnside was Union General in the Civil War. He wore his facial hair extending from the side of his face and connecting to his mustache, but kept his chin clean shaven. Sideburns is a corruption of Burnside, likely reinforced by the fact that the hair grows on the "side" of the face. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Lengthy sideburns and scruffy hipster beards — not the norm in eastern Tennessee — are de rigueur for the under-30 set. —New York Times Feb 3, 2014 19. volt a unit of potential equal to the potential difference between two points on a conductor carrying a current of 1 ampere when the power dissipated between the two points is 1 watt; equivalent to the potential difference across a resistance of 1 ohm when 1 ampere of current flows through it NOTES: Alessandro Volta was an Italian physicist, best known for inventing the battery (electrochemical cell) in the 1800s. There is also a prize named for him for achievements in electricity, and a Volta Crater on the moon named in his honor. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: The Roswell research found, generally, that when battery voltage increased to 4.8 volts from 3.2 volts, toxin levels increased markedly. —New York Times May 3, 2014 20. wisteria any flowering vine of the genus Wisteria NOTES: Botanist Thomas Nuttall named the flower after Caspar Wistar (the "e" is apparently a mistake that has been preserved) who was a physician who was an early proponent of vaccination and who held a Chair in Anatomy at The University of Pennsylvania. EXAMPLE SENTENCE: Few sights are as beautiful as wisteria trained along the roofline and railings of an antebellum house. —Southern Living Feb 21, 2013