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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1 |
A question re: capitalization of eponyms - Is there a rule? It seems that in some cases (possibly when they're a direct usage of the person or character's name) an eponym capitalized, where in others it is not. I note that in the example sentences, Pantagruelian is capitalized, but his fathers name is not treated with the same respect in Gargantuan.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I suspect that the capitalization wears off after a while. How long it takes is more measured by mileage than by time. The word gargantuan is more commonly used than is the word Pantagruelian. I also think that modern coinages are less likely to be capitalized. A quick google shows borked capitalized only in headlines where every major word is capitalized.
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Joined: Feb 2008
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067 |
QED Lilliputian and Brobdingnagian. So many eponyms have to do with size don't they? Wonder why.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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Joined: Feb 2008
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067 |
bork - never heard that one before, obviously from American politics. Whilst we have many past and present politicians who would fit the bill of being a Robert Bork, I don't think any of them have given their names to a propensity to vituperatively attack your opposition (...though one ex-Prime Minister's idiolect is referred to as Hawkespeak).
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
mercerize, mesmerize,
some eponyns are so well established, we forget there origins
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067 |
There is at least one country that is an eponym.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
The A in USA is eponymic.
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Joined: Feb 2008
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067 |
No, Greenland isn't named after Mr Green, lol
The country I'm thinking of is named after a man whose first name was Simon.
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