Roe-Buck'd

Urban Dictionary‘s definition of to Roebuck: ‘roebuck’ is a verb, usually used in the sense that a name is “being roebucked”. To be roebucked means that a name which in a two name company which previously had equal standing is being gradually phased out. This is derived from the company originally known as Sears-Roebuck but …

Quackenbush

After a couple years, back to my ancestry, and the Quackenbush family name. From quackenbush.com, site owner Erik Craig Quackenbush tells us a bit about this duck, sorry, Dutch, name and its roots. Quackenbush is a Dutch name. The first recorded use of the Quackenbush coat of arms was in 1529 by Dirk Aelbertszoon van Quackenbosch,  …

The $30,000 Nutt

P.T. Barnum is often quoted as saying “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Barnum’s biographer couldn’t find out exactly where the phrase originated, however it was more likely spoken in criticism against him and his customers rather than by himself. There may not be a sucker born every minute, but back in the day there …

Who you gonna call?

Spelling Bees and Séances Spell AYKROYD. (without looking!) Can you pronounce it? (ˈeɪkˌrɔɪd ) Can I get the definition? According to Collins English Dictionary, Aykroyd is a noun, meaning “Dan”. Dan. born 1952, Canadian film actor and screenwriter, best known for the television show Saturday Night Live (1975–80) and the films The Blues Brothers (1980), Ghostbusters (1984), and Driving Miss Daisy (1989) Can you …

The meaning of a name

The Sears family name is derived, misspelled, translated, obscured, and Americanized into various forms. From ancestry.com, this blurb on the Sears name seems to simplify everything. Irish (Kerry): Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Saoghair, which in turn may be a patronymic from a Gaelicized form of the Old English personal name Saeger (see 2 below). …