David Douglas

John Duns Scotus

William Thomson,
Lord Kelvin

Samuel Morse

Ambrose Everett Burnside

Angus cattle: A breed of Scottish cattle first brought to America by George Grant, who transported four Angus bulls to the middle of the Kansas prairie in 1873. These four Angus bulls, probably from the herd of George Brown of Westertown, Fochabers, Scotland, made a lasting impression on the U.S. cattle industry.

decibel ("deci-" meaning "ten" and "Bell," after Alexander Graham Bell): a unit for expressing the ratio of two amounts of electric or acoustic signal power equal to 10 times the common logarithm of this ratio; also, a unit for expressing the relative intensity of sounds on a scale from zero for the average least perceptible sound to about 130 for the average pain level.

Douglas fir: a type of coniferous tree named after David Douglas (1798-1834), Scottish botanist.

dunce: one who is slow-witted or stupid; term coined after Scottish philosopher John Duns Scotus, whose once accepted writings were ridiculed in the 16th century.

Kelvin: relating to, conforming to, or having a thermometric scale on which the unit of measurement equals the Celsius degree and according to which absolute zero is 0 K, the equivalent of -273.15°C. Based in the work of Scottish scientist William Thomson, Lord Kelvin.

galore: meaning "plentiful," this is based on the Gaelic gu leòr with the same meaning.

Listerine: mouthwash brand based on the work of James Lister, founder of antiseptic medicine.

macadam: pavement with a bituminous binder, invented by Scottish engineer John L. McAdam.

maxwell: the centimeter-gram-second electromagnetic unit of magnetic flux equal to the flux per square centimeter of normal cross section in a region where the magnetic induction is one gauss 10-8 weber; named after Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831-79.)

macintosh: a raincoat made of a lightweight waterproof fabric originally of rubberized cotton, invented by Charles Macintosh, Scottish chemist & inventor.

morse code: a code consisting of variously spaced dots and dashes or long and short sounds used for transmitting messages by audible or visual signals; named after Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), American artist and inventor.

shrapnel: a projectile that consists of a case provided with a powder charge and a large number of usually lead balls and that is exploded in flight; also a bomb, mine, or shell fragments. Named after artillery officer and inventor Henry Shrapnel.

slew: meaning "a great number," based on the Gaelic sluagh, meaning "a crowd."

sideburns: side whiskers or continuations of the hairline in front of the ears; term coined after Scottish-American Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-81), American general and three-term governor of Rhode Island.

watt: a unit of power equal to the work done at the rate of one joule per second or to the power produced by a current of one ampere across a potential difference of one volt; 1/746 horsepower. Named after scientist James Watt.

Wendy: a girl's name created by Scottish author and playwright J.M. Barrie. He had known a little girl, Margaret Henley, who called him 'my friendy', which she lisped as 'fwendy' or 'wendy.' Barrie immortalised her in 'Peter Pan' by calling his heroine Wendy.

whisky: a liquor distilled from the fermented mash of grain (as rye, corn, or barley), derived from the Gaelic term uisge beatha, literally, water of life.