#eponyms – Joanna the nomad

Inspired by the anniversary of the Eiffel Tower, we’re looking at more everyday things which bear the name of the French person who discovered, invented, or inspired them…

A shadow of his former self

1759: France was in the grip of a financial crisis, fighting Britain in the Seven Years’ War and running up a deficit. The country’s newly-established (and rather academic) finance minister, Étienne de Silhouette, decided to introduce tough new austerity measures. Partly inspired by his research trips to London, he proposed the English practice of subjecting the wealthy to taxes from which they had traditionally been exempted. He introduced the “subvention générale” (a tax on external signs of wealth, such as doors, windows, and servants) and ordered the rich to melt down their silverware, but unsurprisingly his proposals did not go down well and he was hounded out after just eight months in the job, retiring quietly to work on his chateau.

Continue reading “[For the OxfordWords blog:] From silhouette to leotard: more everyday things named after French people (2)”

On March 31 this year, Gustave Eiffel’s tower – arguably the most iconic symbol of France – celebrated its 124^th birthday. Incidentally, the world’s most visited paid-for tourist attraction is the same age as other famous French creations such as the Moulin Rouge and Herminie Cadolle’s first modern bra… – anyway, with all things français in mind, let’s have a look at some other things that were named after the French people who inspired, invented, or discovered them. (You can also explore more in my second post on French eponyms.)

Snuffed out

We can trace the entire tobacco phenomenon back to a single moment in 1561: when Jean Nicot de Villemain, a young French ambassador, went to dinner at a friend’s house during his diplomatic stint in Lisbon, and was shown a garden plant from Brazil that apparently had incredible healing properties.

Continue reading “[For the OxfordWords blog:] From pralines to pasteurized milk: everyday things named after French people (1)”

About Joanna the Nomad

Joanna Rubery worked for Oxford Dictionaries on and off for over fifteen years, and now writes and edits children’s literature. She has also spent considerable time as a travelling writer and musician while teaching English around the world. So far she’s lived and worked in Belgium, Cambodia, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Germany, Japan, India, and Spain. She’s also worked voluntarily in Peru, and spent a lot of time in Ireland.

Joanna’s travel writing and articles on language have been published by Oxford University Press, Wanderlust, and the Christchurch Press. She has also won and been placed in several Very Short Fiction competitions, and her short stories have been published in Narrative magazine and the Grindstone Literary Anthology.