Your Name Sounds Familiar: A collection of eponyms. Volume #1, “Bad Habits”

of the most exciting ways for a lexical unit to

come into being is being named after a person. (But hey, we didn’t ask words if it’s true.) Such words are called “eponyms”. Here are some.

and scholar. Nicot brought snuff tobacco to the French royal

court and promoted its medicinal applications. The weed really caught on and was named after him by Carl Linnaeus, as was the substance. In our opinion, it gives Nicot a bad name. However, he also contributed to language in a good way: Nicot compiled one of the first dictionaries of French.

nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer. De Sade wrote about

deriving pleasure from violence, which is not right in our opinion. He was persecuted for his ideas and lived an unconforming life. However controversial the person, a common modern word is derived from de Sade’s name.

and Irish land agent. During the Irish Land War Boycott

demanded some payments and threatened to evict several tenants, who were unable to pay due to the poor harvest. In 1880 Boycott was deliberately shun and refused any services. He had to leave Ireland. The protesters made a point and cost the government a lot of pounds. (The war wasn’t over with that.)

Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. Casanova

reflects the customs and norms of the era and is associated with royalty and luminaries like Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He became so famous for his often complicated and elaborate affairs with women that his name is now synonymous with "womanizer".