4.7   Commonization of Proper Names

    Apart from the means of word formation discussed so far, there is an interesting source for the enrichment of English vocabulary, i.e. proper names. A good example is the word sandwich, which now denotes a popular fast food. It originates from John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich in 18th-century England. He was so fond of gambling that he often forgot his meals. During one 24-hour marathon at the table, the Earl is said to have refused to stop even to eat. Instead, he ordered that slices of bread with thick slabs of roast beef stuffed between them be brought to him so that he could eat while playing. Hence the word. Modern English has a large number of words which come from proper names, including: names of people, names of places, names of books and tradenames.

    1) Names of People

    Words of this group are from names of scientists, inventors, etc. , e. g. ampere, farad, ohm, volt, watt from French physicist Ampere, British physicist Faraday, German physicist Ohm, Italian physicist Volta and Scottish inventor Watt respectively. These terms are now used as measurements of electricity. Newton, from the English scientist Newton is another example used now as a common term both in physics and chemistry. Similarly, diesel was invented by the German inventor Diesel; mackintosh (waterproof cloth or raincoat) by the Scottish inventor Mackintosh; bloomers (woman' s short loose trousers gathered at the knee) and bowler (man's round hard hat) by Mrs Bloomers in New York and the hat maker Mr Bowler in London respectively.

    Some words are from characters in mythology（神话）, e. g. cherub （可爱、漂亮的小男孩）(a charming pretty male child) from Cherub, a winged little attendant of God; protean（多才多艺的；千变万化的） (able to assume different forms or characters; versatile) from Proteus, a sea deity（神灵） with the gift of prophecy（预言）and the power to assume different forms; nemesis （恰当的惩罚或报应）(appropriate punishment or retribution（报应）) from Nemesis, the Greek goddess of vengeance; and erotic（文学艺术中描述性爱主题的） (of art and literature treating the subject of sexual love) from Eros, the Greek god of love.

    Some are from historical figures, e. g. bobby（英国警察）(BrE policeman) from Sir Robert Peel, founder of London police in early 19th century; cynic（总是怀疑他人的动机；讥讽的）(one always suspicious of people's motives; sarcastic（讥讽的）) from the cynics, a group of ancient Greek philosophers; guillotine（断头台） (a device to cut the heads of criminals), from a French doctor Guillotine, who invented it to lessen the pain of an executee（受刑者）; and quisling (traitor), from Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian army officer who betrayed his country to the Nazis.

    Others are from characters in literary works, e. g. quixotic (extravagantly（过于）romantic, idealistic, chivalrous（骑士精神的）), from Don Quixote in the novel Don Quixote de La Mancha by Cervantes; sadism （性虐待狂）(getting sexual pleasure from hurting other people) from Count Donation (Marquis) de Sade; and robot ( a humanoid mechanical creature) from the mechanical monsters in the play R. U. R. by Karel Capek.

    2) Names of Places

    Many words denoting products, objects or materials come from the names of places where they were first produced, e. g. china(porcelain（瓷器）) from the homeland China; afghan (a kind of knitted rug) first made in Afghanistan; jersey （运动衫）(sweater) from Jersey Island in the US; champagne ( a kind of wine) from Champagne in France where the wine champagne was first produced; and rugby (a sort of ball games) from the British Rugby School, which used to be known for the game.

    3)  Names of Books

    Quite a few words come from names of books and thus take on the meanings associated with the names described in the books. For example, Utopia (an imaginary perfect society) is from Sir Thomas More's book Utopia; odyssey （长期的冒险旅行）(an extended journey) from Homer's epic The Odyssey, which describes all the hardships Odysseus experienced on his voyage home after the fall of Troy; and Babbitt （只关心做生意、地位，不关心艺术和文化的人）(a person concerned mainly with business and position, caring little for art or culture) from the novel Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis.

    4)  Tradenames

    Words like nylon, orlon（奥纶）, dacron（涤纶）, rayon （人造丝）were originally tradenames and are now used to denote the four types of fabric（纺织品）. Other examples are Frisbee (a plate-like toy), deep-freeze （深度冷冻箱）(a deep freezer), Omega (a kind of cigarette), xerox（复印机）(photocopier) and so on.

When proper names are commonized, many of them have lost their original identity: the initial letter may not be capitalized as already shown; they can be converted to other word classes, e. g. boycott (n & v) meaning 'refusal or refuse to do business with, attend or take part in, as a way of disapproval or opposition' from the 19th-century Landlord Captain Boycott; and cabal (n & v} meaning 'a clique（阴谋集团） or make secret plans for political action', from the initial letters of the five ministers Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, and Lauderdale.

    These words can also take suffixes -ic, -an , -al, -ist, -ese, -ish , -esque to form adjectives as in colossal（巨大的）, irenic（宁静的）, stentorian （极其洪亮的）, Micaivberish （乐天派的）, picaresque（传奇流浪冒险的）, and suffixes -ism, -(i)ne, -age, -ode, -ia , -ity, -ry to form nouns as in solecism（文理不通）, morphine（吗啡）, sabotage（破坏）, pasquinade（讽刺诗）, babbittry（市侩作风）, magnolia（木兰）, etc..

    Words that are commonized from proper names have rich cultural associations and thus stylistically vivid, impressive and thought-provoking, e.g.

    (1) I want to be TV's czar of script and grammar.

    (2)  Churchill, a bent Pickwick （匹克威克）in blue uniform, looked up at him with majestic good  humor, much older, more dignified, more assured.

   (3)  It is with procrustean （普罗克拉斯提斯式的残酷手段） thoroughness that the Soviet government squelches（镇压） all dissent（异己分子）.

    The word czar refers to the emperors of Russia until 1917, but it originates from the Roman Emperor Caesar. Now it is used to denote ⁴any one with great or unlimited power, authority. So in sentence (1) the speaker wants to have the same power and authority in the realm of TV script and grammar as Caesar did in the Roman empire, implying his domineering personality and ambition.

    In sentence (2) Churchill is compared to Pickwick, a naive（天真）, benevolent（乐善好施的） character in Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers. The word Pickwick not only describes the outward appearance of Churchill but also depicts his inward personality, building up an amiable （和蔼可亲的）image in the reader's mind, so vivid and striking as if right in front of him.

    The word Procrustean conjures up （塑造）quite a different image. It is from Procrustes, a giant of Attica who tortured travelers by stretching or cutting off their limbs to make them fit his bed, hence ' ruthless in trying to force conformity'（一致）. The Soviet government treats the dissent with the same cruelty as Procrustes did with the travelers, leaving an unforgettable picture of horror and terror. Needless to say, the replacement of these words with synonymous equivalents would surely produce completely different effect.