The title of this soon to be well written article, says it all. They really should ask me as I consider many things and understand many things in different ways than the, “Main stream Namers”!
I understand that, “Main stream Namers” may not be terminology that you use, but just because you don’t use it, or because you are not familiar with the wording, does not mean that it is not used. A Main stream Namer is a person that decides what name to use for an item. These people are not well paid for their services and often do not put much effort into naming items.
I was standing in front of the mirror this morning, contemplating my activities for the day when I thought about the naming of an item that most, if not all of us, have in our dressing rooms.
No it is not a razor, please do not try to get ahead of me, I will relate the necessary information in the appropriate time, just calm down!
Now see what he has done, I am distracted and this wonderful brain of mine has gone to a different subject. Automobile, is a word that they actually got right. Let us consider the following.
The first non-horse drawn vehicle was referred to as a horseless carriage. That seems to be a good terminology, it was a carriage and it did not have a horse to pull it. Those vehicles had a hand operated crank, which was used to start them. Many people were hurt using this crank as the motor would occasionally misfire (kick back) causing the crank to violently turn in reverse often injuring the person trying to start the horseless carriage.
The old motors had what was known as a spark advance. The spark advance was hand operated usually mounted near the throttle control on the steering column. The operator would retard the spark during starting (making it easier to start the motor) and then advance it during driving (making the motor more powerful). An interesting factoid, Harley Davidson and Indian motorcycles in the forties had spark advances too. One hand grip operated the spark advance and the other operated the throttle. When one started the old motorcycles they used a kick starter, and from personal experience I can tell you, those motorcycles would kick you back!
Motors on the old horseless carriages and old motorcycles did not need a battery to make the motor run, more or less like todays lawn mower motor.
Enough history, let’s get back to the naming of the automobile. One of my relatives was instrumental in naming the Automobile as he worked in the industry. Obviously, mobile means it moves, and the word auto was attached to mobile when these vehicles had batteries added, making them able to start without using a crank, thus automobile.
All the above information has nothing to do with the item that I was holding in my hand, as I stood there in front of the mirror in the dressing room. Toothbrush is the item I was considering.
We have done exhausting research here at the Ford Homestead into the creation of the word toothbrush, and have learned the following.
The person who invented the toothbrush lived back in the 1850s and was a female. She was like many female subjects back then, looking for a man. This female will remain nameless to protect any living relatives. During her life she had lost most of her teeth. One of the most brutal of these losses was when she was kicked in the mouth by a mule. Others of her teeth, just rotted out due to poor oral hygiene in those days.
Our subject had one tooth left and it was kind of to the front left side of her lower jaw. She wanted to keep this tooth as it could help her appearance when she was looking for a husband. That is when she started using a brush daily, to keep the tooth clean.
Oddly enough, she found a man that found her interesting and they were married. Her new husband like the idea of using the brush to keep her tooth clean, so he started using the same brush. Not wanting to share slobbers, they decided to get a second brush.
As time passed their friends noticed that her tooth and his teeth were fairly clean and almost white. Others wanted to know what they were doing to keep the tooth and teeth clean.
That is when the female decided to invent a small brush for cleaning teeth, which they could sell to others. The business was started, they became rich, and she name the small brush, “Toothbrush” even though it should have been name teethbrush.
They should ask me, before they name anything!
Don Ford
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