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Named After a Name: Eponyms 以「名」为名

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If you’ve ever ridden in a jeep, used a band-aid, or asked for a Kleenex to blow your nose with, you’re familiar with eponyms – even if you’re unfamiliar with this word. Any time a word is derived from a proper noun, it is called an eponym. Pennsylvania, named after its founder William Penn, is one example of an eponym.

若是你曾经搭过吉普车，用过OK绷，或者跟别人要过面纸擤鼻涕，你就会熟悉「名祖」—即使你对这两个字本身并不熟悉。只要是从专有名词衍生而来的字就叫名祖，以宾州的创立者威廉斌命名的宾州，就是名祖的一个例子。

Eponyms are especially common in science and medicine. Theories, laws, diseases, and chemical elements are often eponyms of the individuals who first discovered them. Some examples are Newton’s laws of motion and Alzheimer’s disease.

名祖在科学与医药领域中特别常见。理论、法律、疾病与化学元素通常都是以首先发现它们的人而命名，牛顿的运动定律与阿兹海默症便是其中的一些例子。

Much more interesting are proprietary eponyms. This is when a well-known name brand comes to be used as an everyday, common noun. “Kleenex” is a leading brand of facial tissues; “Band-Aid” is a well-known brand of adhesive bandage; and “Jeep” is a kind of SUV. These terms are now used commonly in a general way and are often not capitalized. Occasionally, the companies owning these brand names become protective of them. For example, the company “Dumpster” has become famous for reminding people that a “large metal trash container” should never be called a dumpster unless it is actually a “Dumpster.” Conversely, the company that makes the luncheon meat “SPAM,” isn’t too concerned that junk e-mail is also called spam.

更有趣的是有专利权的名祖，这往往发生于一个知名品牌逐渐被当成日常的普通名词使用时。Kleenex是一个面纸的领导品牌，Band-Aid黏性绷带的知名品牌，而Jeep是一种越野型休旅车，这些字现今在日常被广为使用且通常不需大写。但是有时候，拥有这些品牌专利的公司会对他们的品牌采取保护措施，例如，Dumpster公司就提醒人们，「大型金属垃圾容器」不可被称为dumpster，除非真的是Dumpster公司产品，因而声名大噪。相反地，制造罐头午餐肉SPAM品牌的那家公司，对于垃圾邮件也被称作spam并不十分在意。

Yet surely the most confusing eponym is from Texas, where any fizzy soft drink is called “coke,” and you must say “Coca-Cola” to get the real thing!

然而最会使人搞混的名祖当然是来自德州，在那里不含酒精气泡的饮料都被称为可乐，而你却必须指明要Coca-Cola才能喝到真正的可乐。

－by Ben Andrews & Iain Ferguson

Vocabulary

单词发音

founder [ˋfaʊndɚ] n. 创立者；奠基者

remind [rɪˋmaɪnd] v. 提醒

container [kənˋtenɚ] n. 容器

conversely [kənˋvɝslɪ] adv. 相反地

More Information

单词发音

name after 以...的名字来命名

eponym [ˋɛpə͵nɪm] n. 名祖（其名字用来命名人种，土地，时代的人）

blow one's nose 擤鼻涕

proprietary [prəˋpraɪə͵tɛrɪ] adj. 专利的

adhesive bandage 有黏性的绷带

adhesive [ədˋhisɪv] adj. 黏的；黏着的；有黏性的

bandage [ˋbændidʒ] n. 绷带

occasionally [əˋkeʒən!ɪ] adv. 偶尔，间或

be protective of 保护

dumpster [ˋdʌmpstɚ] n. 【商标﹐美】置垃圾的大铁桶

fizzy [ˋfɪzɪ] adj. 起泡沫的

the real thing 货真价实

capitalize [ˋkæpət!͵aɪz] v. 用大写书写

luncheon [ˋlʌntʃən] meat 罐头猪肉

junk [dʒʌŋk] n.【口】垃圾

come to 达到某种状态; 逐渐