Everyday words that were inspired from real-life people
Words make or break, they say. Be it informal conversations with family and friends or formal interactions with peers, the words we choose can build or ruin our reputation. But that’s a discussion for another day. Today, we will introduce you to a few words that have a fascinating facet: They were all inspired from real-life people. Yes, you heard us right. Come, let’s explore them.
Boycott
The 19th century was cursed for the Irish people, as Ireland was struck by consecutive famines. While the first one hit the country in the 1840s the second one was witnessed in the 1870s. Both of these agricultural disasters wreaked havoc, so much so, that it led to mass eviction of farmers. This is when they were forced to protest, not only against their eviction by landlords, but for increased rent as well. All these led to the formation of the Irish Land League in 1880. Now, this group was particularly offended with one cruel English land agent by the name of Charles Cunningham Boycott. Ruthless as he was, Boycott kicked out his poor tenant farmers as they were unable to pay their rents. The League along with Boycott’s labourers launched a mass protest campaign and quit his services. This is when the term ‘boycott’ started becoming popular. It means ‘refusing to deal with a country, organisation, or a person, to protest or punish them.’
Silhouette
In 1759, a rather stingy man was handling the treasury of France under Louis XV. His name was Étienne de Silhouette. His extreme taxation measures led to the coinage of a term ‘a la Silhouette’ meaning ‘on the cheap’. Silhouette's hobby was to make paper shadow portraits of himself. This is how we got the word silhouette. Way back in the 18th century, the culture of creating shadow profile was also considered cheap because the general perception was that people who couldn’t afford a painter for portrait resorted to this art form.
Casanova
“He’s a Casanova.” This is something you must have heard quite often. Well, if man is referred to as a Casanova, he is supposedly someone with a promiscuous nature. But have you ever wondered who this Casanova is? Okay, he was an 18th century Venetian writer and adventurer. The full name was Giacomo Girolamo Casanova. We associate promiscuity with him because in his own memoir Casanova wrote about his multiple romantic exploits during his travels across Europe.