Namely, 74

NAMELY

eponyms (EP-uh-nimz)

words based on or derived from a person's name.

First Known Use: mid-19^th century

“What’s in a Name?”

Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, 2.2­­

74: hooligan: a ruffian, delinquent, mean person who does damage (from a popular music-hall song of the 1890s, which described the doings of a rowdy Irish family named Hooligan—or Patrick Hooligan, an Irish hoodlum in Southwark, London; first known use of the word, 1896)

“Your Honor, I was merely having fun—

I am not such a hooligan!”

“You beat that English teacher, Sir.

So sit back down—right where you were.

“Your punishment? So very hard—

Go off and memorize the Bard—

“Yes, all of it—the sonnets, plays.

And then come back in … 30 days.”

“How can I memorize those works?

That stuff’s for nerds and other jerks!”

“All right!” the judge roared from the bench.

“I guess the time has come to lynch—”

“I’ll learn it!” cried the hooligan.

And so he did—yes, every one.

And he became an English prof—

Because that judge had let him off.