Word: eponym
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1955-1955
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...book clears up the Communist meaning of hooliganism and offers an engaging illustration (see cut), but the reader might still wish to know how an Irish patronymic became the eponym for such an apparently large group of Soviet scofflaws, uncultured types and downright gangsters. Its derivation may be traced to Marx's class-conscious habit of referring to his working-class critics as "Lumpenproletariat, scum, sweepings...