@wordfoolery
Word history - books, blog, LMFMRadio Comedyfic - Channillo Love to read, craft, garden in Ireland My Books - wordfoolery.wordpress.com/my-books/ Weekly Word Blog - http://www.wordfoolery.wordpress.com/ Newsletter - subscribepage.io/wordfoolerywhispers
How to Get Your Name in the Dictionary by Grace Tierney - out now in paperback and ebook, orange cover
5) Curie’s papers, even her cookbook, from the 1890s are so contaminated by radioactivity that they are stored in lead boxes and require specialist clothing to be viewed.
Interested in the fascinating people behind eponyms? Check out "How to Get Your Name in the Dictionary" amzn.to/2ygxZMH
4) When Pierre died in 1906, Marie continued their work, becoming the first female professor at the University of Paris. She died many years later due to exposure to radium.
3) She coined the term radioactivity, developed techniques to isolate radioactive isotopes, and discovered two elements – polonium and radium. Curium is also named for her. She created and ran x-ray units in field hospitals in World War I.
2) Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first and only to win twice, and the only person to win in two sciences (physics 1903, chemistry 1911). She won for physics jointly with her husband and Henri Becquerel after Pierre insisted her work be recognised too.
Polonium on the periodic table of elements - one of those discovered by Marie Curie. Symbol is Po.
Day 6 of Female Words for #WomensHistoryMonth - curie. The curie is a unit of radioactivity and it is named for Marie Sklodowska Curie (1867-1934). #celebratingwomen #etymology 🧵
5) Not content with a hectic scientific career she also learned how to make musical instruments. She was a talented chamber quartet musician. She was an enthusiastic fly-fisherwoman and learned how to fly a plane with the aim of flying under the George Washington bridge in New York.
4) She became the first female full professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 1959 she earned her masters in public health from John Hopkins and devoted the rest of her career to preventing birth defects through education and fundraising for research.
3) After resistance it was adopted for use at one minute after birth and again at five minutes - saving countless newborns.
2) Apgar specialised in anesthesia at a time when it was barely respected and low paid. When she studied the effects of anesthesia on mothers in labour she created a standard method to assess the newborn on heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex response, and colour - the Apgar Score.
Day 5 of Female Words for #WomensHistoryMonth - apgar. The apgar score was invented by Dr. Virginia Apgar (1909-1974) in 1952. #celebratingwomen #etymology 🧵
An original mixed media artwork of a hare with barley and a harvest moon. Created on mulberry paper, using acrylic paints and copper leaf.
The Corn Mother is a widespread mythological figure across folklore, representing agriculture, fertility, and the cycle of crops. She often appears as a nurturing figure who sacrifices herself—through burning or being banished—to bring food, such as corn or grain, to humanity.
#BookologyThursday
6) Curious about other words named for amazing women and men? Check out "How to Get Your Name in the Dictionary" - my book about eponyms - amzn.to/2ygxZMH
5) Montessori had only one child, a son, with a fellow doctor. If she had married she would have had to stop working so they kept their relationship secret. Her son later helped her with her research. #celebratingwomen
4) When she was studying for her medical degree it was deemed inappropriate for her to do human anatomy dissections in the presence of her all-male classmates. She had to do hers alone, after hours. She took up tobacco smoking to mask the smell of formaldehyde.
3) Her first class, for slum children in Florence, had 50-60 pupils aged 3-6. She gave the children fun puzzles, everyday tasks, and interesting activities within a room with child-sized furniture. She refined her methods for the rest of her life working around the world.
2) Maria Montessori came from a noble family. First working with special needs children and later opening schools for all children using her teaching principles of sensory materials and learning through play. #etymology
Day 4 of Female Words for #WomensHistoryMonth - montessori.
Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952) an Italian doctor and educator. She was the first woman to qualify with a degree in medicine, in 1896, from the University of Rome, although her father disagreed with her decision to pursue her education. 🧵
Josephine Garis Cochrane (1839 – 1913) was an American inventor. She was the inventor and manufacturer of the first successful hand-powered dishwasher. #CelebratingWomen
The latest episode of my serialised librarian story is now live. This week Nina hosts an author event and ponders the obligatory "men without shirts" on romance novel covers. Subscribe to read all episodes at channillo.com/series/the-l... #irishfiction #serial #librarylife
3) The city of Trilby in Florida is named after the heroine of the novel, not the hat.
#celebratingwomen
p.s. there's an entire chapter about eponymous hats in "How to Get Your Name in the Dictionary" amzn.to/2ygxZMH
2) ... because in the London stage version the heroine, Trilby O’Ferrall, wore such a hat. Her character is a half-Irish girl working as model and laundress in Paris.
The popularity of the hat soared until the 1960s when the lower head clearance in motor-cars resulted in fewer hats being worn.
Day 3 of Female Words for #WomensHistoryMonth - trilby.
A soft felt, narrow-brimmed hat with an indented crown. It gets its name from the dramatised version of “Trilby” a hugely popular novel published in 1894 by George du Maurier (1834-1896 and Daphne du Maurier's grandfather) #etymology 🧵
An exciting call for artists' residencies at Marsh's Library and National Museum of Ireland: visualartists.ie/advert/open-...
Four Wordfoolery books with wrapping bits and bobs - Words the Vikings Gave Us, How to Get your Name in the Dictionary (eponyms), Words the Sea Gave Us, Words Christmas Gave Us - all by Grace Tierney
Annual reminder - #MothersDay (Ireland, UK etc) 15th of March and my books are easy to wrap. Also, many mothers enjoy #etymology, social history, folklore, pirate yarns, romantic vikings and all of those are in the books. All the places to find them are listed at wordfoolery.wordpress.com/my-books/
I can relate!
Yes, which is all explained in the blog post.
Day 2 of Female Words for #WomensHistoryMonth - fedora - a hat worn by Indiana Jones and Bogart, whose popularity starts with a famous French actress in 1882 and continues with the fight for women's rights. Read the full story at wordfoolery.wordpress.com/2026/03/02/f... #celebratingwomen #etymology
Day 1 of Female Words for #WomensHistoryMonth - accismus - refusing something you really want.
Its roots lie in the Greek name Akko, a female character in a comic play by Amphis, an Athenian comic poet from about 400 B.C.
Full details at wordfoolery.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/t... #CelebratingWomen
Lovely photos, Helen. Such a rich purple!
Oh, a classic. To my shame I've never read his work, but he's on the list, the very long list.