aeneas rat
kind of possum
Marcel Grauls
adam's apple
To Adam, the first man in the biblical creation story.
Achilles heel
lawful place, weak spot
Eponyms: the changelings of etymology
Looking in words is like stargazing. You constantly discover new examples, new connections and hidden facets. If you open the four-volume Etymological dictionary of Dutch (EWN) at random, for example on page 100 (part 1), you will find the word 'admiral', shortened from Arabic. Page 400 contains the entry "bulldozer," derived from a word that originally meant "one who beats niggers" in English.
On page 150 (part 2) you will find the word 'gabber', 'young person who loves music', a word that comes from the Bargoens. On page 350 (part 3) you will find the word 'mikado', 'game with chopsticks', taken from one of the titles of the Japanese emperor. Page 450 (part 4) contains the word 'tattoo', which comes from the travel journal of British Captain James Cook and is derived from the word 'tattow' from 'tatau', Tahitian for 'sign', 'painting'. Five random words on five random pages. Five bridges also to the countless Arabic words in Dutch, to the deep south of the United States, to the countless words from Bargoens and Japanese (think of 'japon') or to the spectacular explorations of Captain James Cook and his residence on Tahiti.
Aquarius
Lewis Edson Waterman was born in Decatur, Otsego County, New York in 1837. His upbringing was neglected and he rarely went to school. At 16 he moved to Illinois with his parents. He was entrepreneurial. For four years he worked as a carpenter during the summer months and in the winter, after much self-study, as a teacher. His health no longer allowed manual labor so he provided for himself by teaching, selling books, and teaching shorthand.
Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood, one of the most famous potters in history, contracted chicken pox as a child and became paralyzed. After a while, when he was able to walk again, his right knee was found to be so stiff that he had to walk on crutches for two years and later on could only move around with the help of a stick. As a result, he, born into a family of potters, could not turn the foot disc, which made him unsuitable for the trade. That is why he became skilled in the baking technique, the quality of the material and the shape of the pots. He turned out to be a true genius.
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