Bet you didn't know

Many of the words we use in everyday conversation were originally just people's names:

cardigan: Earl of Cardigan, a British officer who soldiers wore the knitted sweater during the Crimean War.

frisbee: William Frisbie, a pie company owner in Connecticut in 1871. Yale students played catch with the pie tins

poinsetta: Joel Poinsetta. u.s. Ambassador to mexico

cereal: Ceres, a Roman goddess of agriculture

Maybe someone will name something cool "devany".... It's doubtful, though, as no one would know how to pronounce it.

P.S. The examples above were just a few of the ones that we're studying in my grammar class. I realize most people couldn't care less. However, being that I'm turning into a total speech and word nerd, I find it interesting :-)

Oh, and if you didn't know my life is being taken over by Speech and Language Pathology. Find out why at my career blog.