There are people on this forum from all over the world. I was wondering what the name of your country means.
For example I'm from Canada. Canada is a word in native language that means "That village over there"
The USA got its name from the feminized version of the name Amerigo, after the relitivly unknown Italian explorer and map maker Amerigo Vespucci. (So technically their country is "The United States of *random girls name*)
Australia used to be known as New Holland, but it's current name is just the latin word for south.
China has a pretty cool name. It's named after their most famous/first emperor, Emperor Chin.
I'm surprised/interested at the background behind a lot of countries' names. Where are you from? And what does your countries name mean?
The Philippines were named after King Philip II of Spain according to Wikipedia.
New Zealand, surprisingly, isn't named after Zealand in Denmark, it's named after the Dutch province of 'Zeeland' which I would suspect means 'Sea-land' as it is a coastal province.
The native Maori name for NZ is 'Aotearoa' which means 'Land of the long white cloud' referring, iirc, to a myth where-in the Maori discoverers of NZ who had been at sea for weeks saw a long white cloud on the horizon and knew then they were close to land. Something like that at least. The two main islands are known as the North and South Island in English (creative I know) though the Maori names of Te Ika-A-Maui and Te Waipounamu are also officially recognized- the former means 'the fish of Maui', the mythical Maori hero, in legend fished up the North Island from his Waka, hence the name. Te Waipounamu means 'The waters of greenstone'. Greenstone is NZ English for Nephrite Jade, though the Maori included certain other green rocks in their classification of 'pounamu'.
I could go on for hours but that'd probably get boring.
The USA got its name from the feminized version of the name Amerigo, after the relitivly unknown Italian explorer and map maker Amerigo Vespucci. (So technically their country is "The United States of *random girls name*)
Well, an entire two continents got named America. And the official title is the "United States of America", so the name is more derived from the fact that it's made up of the union of states.
Armenia is called Hayastan in the native language. Literally, it means "the Fatherland." It's the land of Hayk, who was basically this really awesome dude who did really awesome things and is literally named "Father" because he's the father of the Armenian identity and whatnot. Armenia is "Hayk's Land."
Armenia is called Hayastan in the native language. Literally, it means "the Fatherland." It's the land of Hayk, who was basically this really awesome dude who did really awesome things and is literally named "Father" because he's the father of the Armenian identity and whatnot. Armenia is "Hayk's Land."
How does it feel knowing that you are living on a dead man's land?
Technically isn't the name of the country "The United Kingdom"? I might as well say my country is Ohio.
State/province/city names can have some cool origins too. Ohio means "big creek" according to wikipedia.
I get the impression that a lot of places in North America were named by pointing & shouting loudly & slowly at the natives (in english), then writing down the first thing they said in their language.
China has a pretty cool name. It's named after their most famous/first emperor, Emperor Chin.
No. It is not named after the Qin dynasty. The Japanese kanji for China is 中国. 中 means middle and 国 means state, so middle state. I don't know Chinese, but the Japanese romaji for it is Chūgoku.
State/province/city names can have some cool origins too. Ohio means "big creek" according to wikipedia.
I get the impression that a lot of places in North America were named by pointing & shouting loudly & slowly at the natives (in english), then writing down the first thing they said in their language.
Well, the natives named the river the "Ohio River" and the state took it's name from the river.
No. It is not named after the Qin dynasty. The Chinese kanji for China is 中国. 中 means middle and 国 means state, so middle state. I don't know Chinese, but the Japanese romaji for it is Chūgoku.
I study Japanese, not Chinese. Kanji is the Japanese term for the characters borrowed from the Chinese. I don't know the Chinese name for those characters.
"Michigan" derives from the Old Ghetto English saying meaning: "Give me your pants".
The original phrase is lost to time, leaving us with only a memory and a name. But is now roughly "Yo <redacted>, gimme yo wallet."
Similarly, the name of "Detroit" comes from a long-forgotten French word meaning "A place next door to Canada". Lansing is similarly derived from an Iroquois word for "Trying too hard".
I study Japanese, not Chinese. Kanji is the Japanese term for the characters borrowed from the Chinese. I don't know the Chinese name for those characters.
For example I'm from Canada. Canada is a word in native language that means "That village over there"
The USA got its name from the feminized version of the name Amerigo, after the relitivly unknown Italian explorer and map maker Amerigo Vespucci. (So technically their country is "The United States of *random girls name*)
Australia used to be known as New Holland, but it's current name is just the latin word for south.
China has a pretty cool name. It's named after their most famous/first emperor, Emperor Chin.
I'm surprised/interested at the background behind a lot of countries' names. Where are you from? And what does your countries name mean?
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You can just call me Canary.
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The Philippines were named after King Philip II of Spain according to Wikipedia.
New Zealand, surprisingly, isn't named after Zealand in Denmark, it's named after the Dutch province of 'Zeeland' which I would suspect means 'Sea-land' as it is a coastal province.
The native Maori name for NZ is 'Aotearoa' which means 'Land of the long white cloud' referring, iirc, to a myth where-in the Maori discoverers of NZ who had been at sea for weeks saw a long white cloud on the horizon and knew then they were close to land. Something like that at least. The two main islands are known as the North and South Island in English (creative I know) though the Maori names of Te Ika-A-Maui and Te Waipounamu are also officially recognized- the former means 'the fish of Maui', the mythical Maori hero, in legend fished up the North Island from his Waka, hence the name. Te Waipounamu means 'The waters of greenstone'. Greenstone is NZ English for Nephrite Jade, though the Maori included certain other green rocks in their classification of 'pounamu'.
I could go on for hours but that'd probably get boring.
Well, an entire two continents got named America. And the official title is the "United States of America", so the name is more derived from the fact that it's made up of the union of states.
It's the spirit that counts. The dude was epic. Besides, every land is a dead man's land except for the newer countries.
Plus, I live in America.
State/province/city names can have some cool origins too. Ohio means "big creek" according to wikipedia.
I get the impression that a lot of places in North America were named by pointing & shouting loudly & slowly at the natives (in english), then writing down the first thing they said in their language.
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No. It is not named after the Qin dynasty. The Japanese kanji for China is 中国. 中 means middle and 国 means state, so middle state. I don't know Chinese, but the Japanese romaji for it is Chūgoku.
Well, the natives named the river the "Ohio River" and the state took it's name from the river.
"Chinese kanji"
Haha, good one.
I study Japanese, not Chinese. Kanji is the Japanese term for the characters borrowed from the Chinese. I don't know the Chinese name for those characters.
The original phrase is lost to time, leaving us with only a memory and a name. But is now roughly "Yo <redacted>, gimme yo wallet."
Similarly, the name of "Detroit" comes from a long-forgotten French word meaning "A place next door to Canada". Lansing is similarly derived from an Iroquois word for "Trying too hard".
My DeviantArt, so sexy
Hanzi.
You're welcome.
My DeviantArt, so sexy
Viet is the name of our people, the Vietnamese.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Sire I inquire as I do with most, but do you mean to gloat? For is it truly such a tire to reply to the host with but a simple QUOTE?
Fun fact: In the Dutch language, the word "England" literally translates to "Scary land." (My friend is Dutch and she told me this)