Solecism

A discussion of word histories and origins.
bnjtokyo
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Solecism

Postby bnjtokyo » Fri Apr 17, 2020 8:35 pm

A recent GoodWord of the Day, "Gaffe," was defined, in part, as a "solecism." Being unsure of the definition of "solecism," I looked it up in etymonline, the Online Etymology Dictionary, where I learned it derives from Greek "soloikos 'speaking incorrectly, using provincialisms,' also 'awkward or rude in manners,' said to have meant originally 'speaking like the people of Soloi,' a Greek colony in Cilicia (modern Mezitli in Turkey), whose dialect the Athenians considered barbarous." That caused me to wonder whether "solecism" should be deemed an eponym. But I then discovered it is not included in Dr. Goodword's collection of Eponyms (https://www.alphadictionary.com/article ... index.html)

Is "solecism" inadvertently omitted from the list of eponyms linked above or does it fail to quality in some way?

Audiendus
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Re: Eponyms

Postby Audiendus » Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:22 pm

Some other eponyms not in the list:

Carolina (from the Latin form of 'Charles', i.e. King Charles II)
cordwainer (from 'Cordoba')
Dickensian
landau (from the German city of that name)

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Dr. Goodword
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Re: Solecism

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Apr 30, 2020 2:03 pm

Indeed, it was an oversight. When I made up my list of eponyms I was unaware of the etymology of solecism.

Carolina doesn't qualify because it is not a commonzation, but a proper noun from a proper noun. Ditto for Dickensian. The meaning of the latter word hasn't changed, either. Landau and cordovan do qualify.

I will add all these to my eponym list this weekend.

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Re: Solecism

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Apr 30, 2020 7:46 pm

They're up now. Yall are both credited.
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Audiendus
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Re: Solecism

Postby Audiendus » Thu Apr 30, 2020 8:51 pm

Carolina doesn't qualify because it is not a commonzation, but a proper noun from a proper noun. Ditto for Dickensian. The meaning of the latter word hasn't changed, either.
But Georgia, Georgian and Rabelaisian are included. (I was thinking of Dickensian in the sense of 'squalid, poverty-stricken' rather than 'relating to Dickens'.)

Also, in the Moonie entry, you may wish to include Sun Myung Moon's year of death (2012).

bnjtokyo
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Re: Solecism

Postby bnjtokyo » Sat May 02, 2020 2:44 am

Dr. Goodword, thank you for your kind words. But may I ask about "denim", from "serge de Nimes" and "jean(s)," from "Genoa" after spending some time in French. Please see my earlier post in the Etymology forum.

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Re: Solecism

Postby brogine » Sat Nov 07, 2020 2:58 am

How about ‘peeler’, another name for a bobby. Primarily UK Irish, I think. I first heard it in a republican song, and later, once or twice, in a British TV show. Same eponym. (Isn’t the person the eponym?) Probably the only guy to have double-dipped.
Oh, if a third reference would be helpful, it’s also in the OED. It actually precedes ‘bobby’ by three decades.
I know punctuation is supposed to go inside closing quotation marks, but it seems illogical.
Also Napoleon.

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Slava
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Re: Solecism

Postby Slava » Mon Dec 28, 2020 11:21 am

Wouldn't solecism and the like be toponyms, rather than eponyms? Or is that picking a nit?
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Re: Solecism

Postby brogine » Tue Jan 05, 2021 6:39 pm

Ooh, ooh! another one, courtesy of “Call the Midwife”.

In addition to the garment, ‘garibaldi’ can refer to a popular British ‘biscuit’ something like a fig newton, although I think it’s a brand name, so maybe that doesn’t count.

Now I think of it, it’s more like a two-dimensional Pop Tart.


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