INTERNACIONAL OCTUBRE 2015 | TIERRA Nº 3 from the English artillery officer Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842), who developed an explosive device known as a shrapnel shell. Shrapnel was finally promoted to general due to his contribution and efforts. The Artillery branch is not the only one using eponymous weapons; when our soldiers use a gun, they are using a word coined in the 14th century and originally coming from the Old Norse, gunhildr, both elements of which mean “war”; even, there was a kind of catapult called Lady Gunhildr. With the passage of time the word was shortened to gunne and then to gun. You may know one of the most famous “guns” around the world is the Colt (named after Samuel Colt). The Winchester rifle, derived from the American manufacturer Oliver Fisher Winchester (1810-1880) and the Kalashnikov assault rifle, taking its name after the Russian NCO armour Commander Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov. My intention is to cover in further articles some military semantic fields as well as civilian ones to let you know that vocabulary is more than words. ¢ KEY WORDS • can’t help: no poder evitar • an eponym freak: loco/a por los epónimos • to pass muster: aprobar el examen • to cram: empollar • to get the knack: pillarle el truquillo • Old Norse: Nórdico Antiguo 59
TIERRA EDICIÓN DIGITAL Nº 3
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