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+--- Thread: Words with a funny etymology? Or jokes? (/thread-13725.html)
Words with a funny etymology? Or jokes? - Matt84 - 10-15-2012 08:51 PM
Does anyone know a word with a funny etymological background?
Like 'Yankees' dating from the time when New York was still New Amsterdam and all men were named either Jan or Kees.
Things like that.
Also jokes regarding linguists... very welcome.
(It is for a facebook page of linguists world wide).
- Not so Serious - 10-15-2012 08:59 PM
A cunning liguist knows their tongue very well?
- Morgan - 10-15-2012 08:59 PM
Beijing the Chinese capital, was named by combination of two words; bei "north" + jing "capital" (as opposed to Nanking, another Chinese city meaning "southern capital").
Hollywood - region near Los Angeles, named for the ranch that once stood there, which was named by Deida Wilcox, wife of Horace H. Wilcox, Kansas City real estate man, when they moved there in 1886. They began selling off building lots in 1891 and the village was incorporated in 1903. Once a quiet farming community, by 1910 barns were being converted into movie studios. The name was used generically for "American movies" from 1926, three years after the giant sign was set up, originally Hollywoodland, another real estate developer's promotion.