The Challenge

Rambles and Riff Raff about all this and that

People Becoming Words

Published by Esteban Glas on October 1st, 2008 | This post lacks all category except for: funny

It is a historic process. There are plenty of examples out there. Some are happier than others. For instance we can call the act of patronizing arts a Maecenate, thanks to Gaius Cilinius Maecenas. Much later in time, maverick became a synonym of being independent, thanks to Samuel Maverick’s refusal to brand his cattle.

The Marquis de Sade, on the other hand brought upon us the word Sadist, since not only did he enjoy inflicting pain on others for pleasure, but also became famous by writing about it.

Some less used but relevant examples might also be Aristotelian and Euclidean; both depicting lines of thought in philosophy and maths.

Today it is more common for companies to make it into our everyday jargon. We xerox document, we google some term in search for answers.

But what people from the past 50+ years will make it into the dictionary? Only time will tell.

I can picture some that I would use:

• I stevejobsed: sold bling-bling and made a whole lot of fuzz about it.
• I did a Fuld: made myself a millionaire in bonuses while sinking my company / others.
• Dang! a Gates!: Harmless-looking, sibling-eating creature.
• I’m Yanged: I have something potentially great in my hands but can’t quite figure out what to do with it.

What other people do you think are worth making it into a dictionary?

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