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Apr 6, 2020
This week’s themeEponyms This week’s words Mae West Adonic vandal nimrodize Chadband 
Mae West in the film Night After Night
Astronaut Richard A. Mastracchio depends on his Mae West during an emergency bailout exercise
Photo: NASA
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu GargBenjamin Franklin once said, “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are gone, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing.” As it happens, Ben did both. He wrote things worth reading (we still quote him) and he did things worth writing (Wikipedia summarizes him as a writer, printer, political philosopher, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat). But there’s a third and a fourth way too. If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are gone, coin a word or have a word coined after you. He has the word benjamin (a $100 bill) coined after him. Also Franklin’s rod (lightning-conductor) and Franklin stove (a cast-iron stove). A word coined after a person is known as an eponym, from Greek ep- (after) + -onym (name). Become an eponym and you live forever in the language. In this week’s A.Word.A.Day we feature words coined after people, from history, fiction, mythology, and more. Mae West
PRONUNCIATION:
(may WEST)
MEANING:
noun: An inflatable life jacket.
ETYMOLOGY:
After actress, singer, and playwright Mae West (1893-1980), from the
apparent resemblance of an inflated vest to her large bust. Earliest
documented use: 1940.
USAGE:
“Although she never did learn to swim, she donned her Mae West and loved
to fish.” Laura Rouse; The Poughkeepsie Journal (New York); Jul 15, 2014. See more usage examples of Mae West in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Conscience is a dog that does not stop us from passing but that we cannot
prevent from barking. -Nicolas de Chamfort, writer (6 Apr 1741-1794)
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