More Words and Phrase origins ....

After an internet glitch yesterday I had a chance to go back and find a few more examples:

Draconian -  Sweeping, drastic, harsh or severe powers, usually legal ones.  This is named after Drakon the 7th century Athenian legislator and used in England from 1876.

Gibberish -  Dr Johnson believed that this word derived from the 11th century Arabian alchemist Geber who had translated into Latin the work of Jabir ibn Hayyan (8th century).  Jabir used a mystical jargon as he knew that, if discovered, his writings would have meant the death penalty.

Gordon Bennett -  an exclamation popular in the 1980s.  James Gordon Bennett II (1841-1918) was the editor-in-chief of the New York Herald who sent Henry Morton Stanley to search for Dr Livingstone in Africa.  He was exiled to Paris after a scandal but still managed to operate his paper from there.  He spent over 40 million dollars during his lifetime, offered many trophies to stimulate French sport including the Gordon Bennett cup for motor racing, and became 'one of the most picturesque figures of two continents'.

Leotard - named after the tight one-piece garment worn by the French trapeze artist Jules Leotard (1830-70).

OK - the origins are still debated, it could be Greek, Finnish, American Indian, Haitian or from the First World War meaning '0 killed'