Life Magazine: "People Who Became Nouns"

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I fall into this category:

A bailo, also spelled baylo, (singular; baili / bailos is plural) was a diplomat who oversaw the affairs of the Venetians in Constantinople, and was a permanent fixture in Constantinople around 1454

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailo

Supreme Ruler Of The Universe on January 11, 2012 at 8:16 AM

Krulwich/NPR did a little segment on people who became nouns. It was dorky and cute.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/0…

I'm sure that will happen with santorum.

Allyn on January 11, 2012 at 8:19 AM

It would suck to be a Quisling today, anywhere in the eurocentric world. The meaning of the word is so ingrained in the languages and cultures of europe that people who don't even know who Vidkun Quisling was, know that the word means traitor.

johnyawl on January 11, 2012 at 8:21 AM

You've been certainly having a lot if references to Norway in the last little bit.

NorwegianCanuck on January 11, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Savage is already a verb and a noun.

Vince on January 11, 2012 at 8:33 AM

Savage is also an adjective.

Fortunate on January 11, 2012 at 8:52 AM

Santorum got smeared in New Hampshire!

Shatneriffic on January 11, 2012 at 8:54 AM

Benedict Arnold, I'm just saying.

judybrowni on January 11, 2012 at 9:02 AM

Can't believe they didn't have "pilot" on that list.

fARTing on January 11, 2012 at 9:23 AM

And I guess you could make a case for "Benjamin", too.

fARTing on January 11, 2012 at 9:26 AM

I've always felt sorry for the "Hitler" families I've come across in the censuses, 1930 and earlier. I'm wagering they'll mostly be gone by the 1940 one when it's released later this year.

Fnarf on January 11, 2012 at 10:02 AM

@10 I don't think Benjamin would stand scrutiny as eponymous. "Benjamin" in regards to cash is so called because his face is on the bill, not because he had anything to do with its creation or because he was known as someone who used large denominations of money.

Consider Maverick and Boycott. Maverick didn’t brand his horses; he allegedly thought it was cruel. So now a Maverick is someone who bucks tradition or goes it alone. Boycott was boycotted.

Allyn on January 11, 2012 at 10:05 AM

I am genuinely curious about all the Norway references lately. Does Terry have family there?

Moonmaid on January 11, 2012 at 10:09 AM

There are 0 people in Norway, Sweden and Denmark with the last name Quisling... It really means "traitor" in everyday langauge on the other hand like actually MEANS it. You can say "he is such a quisling".

So we have some ways to go before we can actually say "and I got santorum AAAALLL over the bed"

JensR on January 11, 2012 at 10:20 AM

@14, QUITE a ways to go. Some of us hope we never get there.

Fnarf on January 11, 2012 at 10:30 AM

Looking at the list of definitions in that Life gallery, one thing becomes clear. If you really want santorum to get real legs as a word, it needs at least one more auxiliary definition, one that could have more general application, one that generalizes the original definition. Perhaps something along the lines of:

1b. Any particularly obnoxious or disgusting liquid or viscous substance.

I already see this in SLOG usage. It might as well be part of the definition.

Brooklyn Reader on January 11, 2012 at 10:45 AM

@16 Usage example: "That old head of lettuce was turning into santorum, so I put it on the compost pile."

Vividly descriptive while still being concise and economical. See?

Brooklyn Reader on January 11, 2012 at 10:52 AM

@ 8, since "Benedict Arnold," and not plain old "Arnold" became the synonym for traitor, people with Arnold for a surname escaped that fate.

Varg Vikernes, psychopathic Norwegian Black Metal musician, claims Quisling was a distant relative and has made Quisling part of his name.

Matt from Denver on January 11, 2012 at 11:35 AM

EVERYWHERE I LOOK ON THIS SITE THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT SANTORUM GET THE FUCK OVER IT ALREADY REALLY WTF?

SANTORUM on January 11, 2012 at 11:35 AM

@ 19, I hope that's parody. I kinda doubt it - it reads more like a basement warrior trying to "take it" to Dan Savage, and one who won't stick around and make another comment here.

Matt from Denver on January 11, 2012 at 11:47 AM

I'm surprised that Leotard wasn't Dan's favorite from the list. He's always saying how leotarded some people are.

pastanaut on January 11, 2012 at 11:47 AM

@19 Never, Chuckles darling. Not. Ever. Not while Rick Santorum espouses his sociopathic bigotry.

Brooklyn Reader on January 11, 2012 at 11:50 AM

@14, but what happened to Vidkun Quisling's family in Norway after the war? Didn't he, like, have a wife and children? Or parents, brothers, sisters, etc. with the family name Quisling? Did the Quislings at some point decide to change their names, after "quisling" = "traitor" became a common word?

ankylosaur on January 11, 2012 at 1:08 PM

Charles C. Boycott. English landlord during the Irish "land war." people avoided buying goods that funneled money to his land, using the term "boycott" to discuss their strategy.

Extuno on January 11, 2012 at 3:11 PM

@12: Not to put too fine a point on it, but it was cattle, not horses, that Maverick didn't brand.

on January 11, 2012 at 9:40 PM

@25 You are very correct. I don't beleive I was thinking horses, but something went wrong in my brain.
Thanks. Kind Regards.

Allyn on January 12, 2012 at 6:55 AM

Life Magazine: "People Who Became Nouns"

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