Quiz: Eponymous fame

It’s the 514th birth anniversary of Matthew Parker, an English archbishop with a fairly colourful career. Because of his inquisitiveness and interference in Church politics, Parker is one of the people who could have been the original ‘nosey Parker’. In his honour, this quiz is on people who inspired words and phrases

1 What was named after the editor of one of the world’s first women’s magazines, The Lily, after coming into fashion thanks to actress Fanny Kemble. The editor promoted it as a fitting dress for a modern unconstrained woman, instead of the desperately uncomfortable women’s wear of that period.

2 Which word was inspired by a soldier in Napoleon’s army whose blind belief in his leader was satirised in the 1831 comedy La Cocarde Tricolore, written by the Cogniard brothers?

3 Which particular sartorial style was named after the foppish Edward VIII, who abdicated the British throne in 1936?

4 Which lifting device, usually associated with oil rigs, was named after a late-17th to early-18th century hangman who executed more than 3,000 people, including his own patron?

5 An influential Greek philosopher around 300 BC, he believed that the universe could only be understood by relying on one’s senses. Over the years, that was interpreted as a devotion to sensual delights, especially those of the table. Name this philosopher, who exists in the dictionary as a byword for a person who appreciates food and drink.

6 John Loudon invented a method of paving roads in the 19th century by using small stone chips and a binding agent. What was his surname, now a word in the English dictionary?

7 Which American craze of the 1950s (still a very popular pastime) was named after the surname of William Russell and his sister Susan, who ran an extremely successful pie company in the late 19th century?

8 Samuel, a certain 19th century American cattleman, held the view that as all his neighbouring cow owners branded their cattle, all cattle not branded belonged to him. This unusual thought process ensured that his second name became a byword for thinking differently. What was his second name?

9 Robert Koch was a celebrated Nobel-winning bacteriologist who discovered the tuberculosis bacilli, but it is his assistant’s name that appears in far more scientific journals, thanks to something he designed for his senior. Name the assistant.

10 Which top-heavy hairdo was named after Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, to all purposes the first lady of France for almost 20 years?

Answers

1. Bloomers, after feminist reformer Amelia Bloomer

2. Chauvinism, from Nicolas Chauvin

3. The Windsor knot, a particular style of wearing ties that was started by the Duke of Windsor, the title Edward accepted after abdication

4. The Derrick, named after hangman Thomas Derrick because of its similarity in structure to the original gallows

5. Epicurus, from where epicure is derived

6. McAdam, from where the McAdamisation of roads originated

7. Frisbee (the surname was Frisbie): the covers of the pie tins became a huge hit as a game among the students of Yale University

8. Maverick

9. Julius Petri, after whom the Petri dish is named

10. Pompadour, named after King Louis XV’s mistress Marquisse de Pompadour

_{Joy Bhattacharjyais a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup}

_{Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj}

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