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BurritoWife here, so I have also been randomly looking through this book and can help with the looking up of things. One amusing entry I found this morning was for Pensacola, which is 'Said to be derived from the Indian word Pan-sha-okla, meaning "hair people."' Living on the east coast of the US means most place names are derived from either Native American words, or England. It's interesting to find out what the actual words mean.
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Sep 26, 2020 15:28
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Vincent Valentine posted:69 is only the Cs? Yeah, it's in alphabetical order. Unfortunately there is no page 420  Badwater, CA is not in the book, but the description for the Bad Lands in South Dakota is interesting: 'It is said that the old French voyageurs described the region as "mauvaise terres pour traverser," meaning that it was a difficult country to travel through; from this the term has been carelessly shortened and translated into the present misnomer.' So maybe Badwater had a longer and more descriptive name in Spanish or something that included the term 'agua mal' and it got butchered into Badwater.
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Sep 26, 2020 15:46
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Big Beef City posted:"Chefunct: An indian word meaning 'Chinkapin'". Oh, well thanks. Lol. For what it's worth, 'Chinquapin' is apparently the Indian name for "nut," or "small chestnut"  edit: Regarding the use of of the term 'Indian,' the US government actually still uses this term to define reservations. For example, Navajo Nation Reservation is officially a 'Federal American Indian Reservation.' I personally use 'Native American,' but I would guess that the terminology used in this book was probably the official government standard when it was published, and does not necessarily indicate the preference of the author himself. TeachesOfPeaches fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Sep 26, 2020 |
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Sep 26, 2020 15:52
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Toad Suck and Molly's Nipples don't have entries, which is too bad because those are both hilarious place names. Maybe the author was a prude!
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Sep 26, 2020 16:03
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Julias posted:Could you look up California, Pennsylvania? Always wondered about that one. The book doesn't acknowledge California, PA specifically, but the entry for California does mention that "eight post-offices bear this name." There is also a California, Maryland. Here is the full description: "California; one of the States of the Union. This name was applied by Cortez to the bay and country, which he supposed to be an island. The name is that of an island in an old Spanish romance, where a great abundance of precious stones were found. Eight post-offices bear this name."
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Sep 26, 2020 16:08
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twoday posted:Is the Murderkill river in there? Nope, but Murder is: "creek in Genessee County, New York, so named because the body of a man who was supposed to have been murdered was found in the stream." cool cool
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Sep 26, 2020 16:10
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Jose posted:why is so much stuff in the US named gaylord Apparently it's a common last name, as the two entries for it suggest: "Gaylord; city in Smith County, Kansas, named for C.E. Gaylord, of Marshall County." "Gaylord; village in Otsego County, Michigan, named for an attorney of the Michigan Central Railroad." Not nearly as exciting as I would have hoped.
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Sep 26, 2020 16:22
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extra row of teeth posted:Matawan? The local legend/in-joke was it was Native American for "stinky river" because Matawan Creek was loving gross. 'Matawan; town in Monmouth County, New Jersey. An Indian word to which various meanings are ascribed, among them "magician," "charmed skin," "it arrives in a lake."' Maybe by "it" they meant a horrible smell...
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Sep 26, 2020 22:21
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Into The Mild posted:Hey TeachesOfPeaches. I’m told you find the way I say Effort Post is funny. I literally read this post in your accent.
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Sep 26, 2020 23:03
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Outrail posted:Still waiting to hear what the book says about 'New England' New England is not in the book, but the descriptions for most other places beginning with "New" just say "named for the city/county/town in [European country]." For example, New Hampshire is "named for the county in England." So I would imagine the description for New England would just say, "named for the country of England."
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Oct 10, 2020 17:22
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wesleywillis posted:Here's an easy one: why the fuckin poo poo are there so many Springfields in US and A? There are several origins for this name, actually. Springfield, Massachusetts was "named for the town in Essex County, England." Springfield, Nebraska was "so named because of the abundance of springs." And Springfield, South Carolina was "so named by its founder because he 'expected to see a town spring up in the old fields.'" Simpsons bonus: Shelbyville (in Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri) was named for General Isaac Shelby, former governor of Kentucky.
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Oct 10, 2020 17:28
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Knormal posted:Sacramento, CA was originally New Helvetia for this reason. It always makes me think of the Helvetica font. The book makes no mention of New Helvetia, either as its own entry or in the description for Sacramento. Sacramento does mean "the sacrament," but according to Wikipedia the city was named after the Sacramento River, which was named by Spanish cavalry officer Gabriel Moraga for the Santisimo Sacramento (Most Holy Sacrament), referring to the Catholic Eucharist. The Wikipedia article for New Helvetia has this explanation: The Swiss pioneer John Sutter (1803–1880) arrived in Alta California with other Euro-American settlers in August 1839. He established an agricultural and trading colony, with the stockade Sutter's Fort, and named it "Nueva Helvetia." It was located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and American River. In English the name means "New Switzerland", after Sutter's home country...The site of "Nueva Helvetia" is just a few miles east of where his son, John Sutter, Jr., established Sacramento, and is on the eastern edge of present-day downtown Sacramento.
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Oct 10, 2020 17:49
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Knormal posted:Thanks, I never heard they were actually separate settlements from what I assume was a "gently caress you dad, I'm starting my own city" moment. I know Sutter's Fort was abandoned and fell into ruin because Sutter was apparently a pretty lovely businessman, so I guess everyone just kinda moved west a bit to live with Sutter 2. I guess it makes sense your book doesn't even mention New Helvetia then, since it has nothing to do with a current place name. Sure. There's a lot more in depth information about it in the History of Sacramento article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sacramento,_California) that you might find interesting. I didn't read the whole article but New Helvetia is discussed in the top portion.
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Oct 11, 2020 15:31
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Ugly In The Morning posted:What was Worcester, MA named for? I hope it’s something that ties into it being a godawful shithole. It was named for the county in England, so that tie would probably be British colonialism.
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Oct 11, 2020 15:33
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Unfinish3d posted:Nesquehoning, PA Nesquehoning; stream and village in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. An Indian word, meaning "black lick." Not sure what a black lick is, though?
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Oct 11, 2020 15:36
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spacing in vienna posted:Rural Pennsylvania supplies such fun names as Panic, Home, and Bird-in-Hand. Are any of those listed? None of those are in the book. I'm always curious about Bird-in-Hand when I see it on maps, though. If I recall it's located near the other infamously named Pennsylvania town of Intercourse. Let's see what Wikipedia has to say: Home, Pennsylvania received its name because its first post office was located in the "home" of postmaster Hugh Cannon in 1834. The legend of the naming of Bird-in-Hand concerns the time when the Old Philadelphia Pike was surveyed between Lancaster and Philadelphia. According to legend, two road surveyors discussed whether they should stay at their present location or go on to the town of Lancaster. One of them supposedly said, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," which means it is preferable to have a small but certain advantage than the mere potential of a greater one; and so they stayed. Panic, Pennsylvania most likely was named after the Panic of 1873. A folk etymology maintains the name originated when a pioneer fought off a bear with an axe. I like the folk etymology for Panic better than the actual probable origin, so I'm just gonna go with that one 
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Oct 11, 2020 15:48
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