Chrysti The Wordsmith: Eponyms - 2

Greetings Group of horrors. Less time on Christie the wordsmith we looked at the words Frisbee and nicotine. A pair of terms inspired by the proper names William Frisbee and John Nico. These are eponym or names that have become words such terms are so common in the English language that we often are unaware of the personalities behind them. While some of these words derive from the names of living or once living human beings others have mythological origins. The atlas that refers to a collection of maps comes from the name of the powerful Greek god Atlas and the punishment he received for having challenge the mighty Zeus in their rivalry for the Olympian throne. When Zeus conquered atlas in a fierce celestial battle he sentenced his adversary to forever bear the weight of the heavens on his shoulders for ages the vanquished Atlas held the earth and sky apart until he finally turned to stone. Why is a collection of maps named

after this unfortunate God the sixteenth century Flemish cartographer hair artist Mercator established the tradition by publishing an image of Atlas shouldering the immense vault of the heavens on the frontispiece of his map collection succeeding cartographers perpetuated this tradition until the maps themselves became known as Atlas is the name of the mythical warrior Atlas is an eponym a name that's become a word. I'm Christi the wordsmith. Could a verbal force. CHRISTIE The wordsmith a sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry sued web dot com.