Chauvinist

Image: Gerd Altmann

Nobody likes a chauvinist. Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people. 

In English, the word has come to be used in some quarters as shorthand for male chauvinism. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary begins its first example of the use of the term chauvinism with "an attitude of superiority toward members of the opposite sex. But it can also be described as a form of extreme patriotism and nationalism.

The word is said to be an eponym dating back to the 1840s. Nicholas Chauvin was a French soldier who glorified Napoleon and exhibited extreme ultra-nationalism, viewing the French as superior to all others. Then again, I also found that Nicholas Chauvin may never have actually existed. he may have been a fictional character, invented to inspire patriotism.

Until the 20th century, the term “male chauvinism” had not been used to describe sexism — as in men believing they are superior to women. This is the definition that stuck, and the “male” part of the term was eventually dropped.

Female chauvinism is the belief that women are superior to men. Feminist Betty Friedan observed that "...the assumption that women have any moral or spiritual superiority as a class is [...] female chauvinism." In the book Female Chauvinist Pigs, it is argued that many young women in the United States and beyond are replicating male chauvinism and older misogynist stereotypes. 

Maverick

To call someone a maverick today means that you see them as an independent person who thinks differently, and the term applies to many professions and fields. It is generally considered to be a positive nickname but it might also apply to someone who doesn't follow the rules or norms of a field.   

The origin of this eponym is Samuel Maverick, a cattle rancher in Texas in the 19th century. At the time, the law was that all ranchers had to brand their cattle - but Maverick refused. 

The dictionary, in North America, will say that a maverick can also mean an unbranded calf, which makes sense. 

Maverick was also an American Western television series from 1957 - 1962. It was a comedic western originally starring James Garner as Bret Maverick, a poker player moving through the 19th-century American frontier. 

James Garner as Bret Maverick and Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, Link

Nicotine

Nicotine, the addictive alkaloid found in tobacco, is another of the many English eponyms of French origin. The formal name for the tobacco plant is the Latin Nicotiana tabacum, and it was named after Jean Nicot, the French ambassador to Portugal in the 1500s.

Jean Nicot de Villemain, a French diplomat and scholar became famous for being the first to bring tobacco to France, including snuff tobacco. He sent tobacco and seeds to Paris in 1560 and then presented it to the French King. He also promoted its medicinal use, since smoking was believed to protect against illness, particularly the plague.

The fashionable people of Paris began to use the plant, making Nicot a celebrity.

The plant was called Nicotina, but nicotine later came to refer specifically to the particular chemical in the plant.

Nicotiana tabacum, or cultivated tobacco, CC BY 2.5, Link