This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

Working without a Net...
This one I think I can get pretty much right without resort to the Internet:Boomhower is one of those occupational names that were probably altered in spelling when the bearer came over from Europe (or during World War I to avoid prejudice -- very common). In German, Boomhower would be "Baumhauer" -- literally a "tree hewer", so a woodsman or lumberjack by trade.In form, "Boom" is the correct spelling for "tree" in Dutch, but I'm not very confident that "hower" In any spelling is a Dutch equivalent to "hauer". (Anyone know better?) But if it is, the derivation could be Dutch instead of German.A parallel name that was changed in America would be "Eisenhower", which in German means (I think) not "iron cutter" but "iron miner", since the words for "miner" and "hewer/cutter" vary by only one teensy umlaut over the "a".Jog my memory: wasn't Boomhower the ROTC frat jerk in "Animal House"?- Daividh
vote up1vote down

Replies

I jogged my own memory: that was Niedermeyer. Boomhower's the mumbly guy in "King of the Hill".
vote up1vote down