So I was putting the fnishing touches to a skirt which fits but does not flatter, and my mind turned to other matters, like this, that and the other, and it occurred to me that if I were a word, I would not be eponymous.
For while eponymous does its job of being one word where otherwise there would need to be three most excellently, it is the kind of word which is only ever used when a person needs another person to know that they are the kind of person who knows the meaning of the word eponymous.
I used ‘eponymous’ in an essay only yesterday – meaning character and film with same name (‘Zelig’).
Or if you are a keen REM fan, I suppose. I always thought that a word that is as nice to say as ‘eponymous’ should mean something more day-to-day useful. But then maybe its specialness would wear out.
Oh, so Janis Ian wasn’t singing ‘Eponymous, Anonymous, Eponymous’ at the start of her 1980 song, Run too fast Fly too High?
that is a brilliant line (are you using it anywhere or can I steal it?)
I use it if I’m in a bubbly cheeky mood, and playing with words. It’s a nice plommy word, with a zingy middle syllable.
Or if I want people to know that not ONLY do I know the word, but I know that it refers to the person only, and not the thing named after them – the eponymous Dorian Grey, for eg, and not the picture.
Oooooh, I am SOOO SMART, WORSHIP ME!!