Cool or boring names of old cities or regions

[Swamp Rat]

https://images.kb.dk/present?id=fr535029

This one also uses Sylt
https://images.kb.dk/present?id=fr535011

And so do this
https://images.kb.dk/present?id=fr535001

What on Earth was the Royal Library thinking when they uploaded those maps in that format? What is this Djvu browser plug-in you need to install in order to see them? If I click the link to install the plug-in I am redirected to some Japanese fonted page where nothing but obscurity resides.

 

[Nick Giordano]

Maybe it's already known, but the Spanish had some ridiculous imagination:

City of the Most Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Good Airs (Buenos Aires)

The River of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porciúncula (Los Angeles)

In contrast, they had NO imagination with others: San X, San Y, San Z...

 

[Amallric]

What on Earth was the Royal Library thinking when they uploaded those maps in that format? What is this Djvu browser plug-in you need to install in order to see them? If I click the link to install the plug-in I am redirected to some Japanese fonted page where nothing but obscurity resides.

Djvu is the standard format for e-books.

 

[SchwarzKatze]

Djvu is the standard format for e-books.

Never heard of that until ths thread, everyone's using the Kindle format or .epub, or more often, PDF.

 

[MrTrt]

Did anybody hear about the town in Spain which renamed itself because its name meant 'fort of jew-killers'?

It rings a bell with me, I think I read something about it.

 

[Andrelvis]

Djvu is the standard format for e-books.

Never head of it until now. I always see ebooks available as PDFs and sometimes also as ePubs.

 

[pithorr]

Did anybody hear about the town in Spain which renamed itself because its name meant 'fort of jew-killers'?

In France: La Mort aux Juifs

 

[SchwarzKatze]

Petition passed, name changed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castrillo_Matajudíos

 

[MrTrt]

Petition passed, name changed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castrillo_Matajudíos

It is funny because it seems that the name of the town was originally Motajudíos (Hill of Jews) and Matajudíos (Jew-Killer) is just a corruption of the name. Indeed, looking at the coat of arms and the flag of the town it does not look very anti-jew.

There is a town near my home called Aguadulce (Sweet water), which makes no sense because it's a coastal town and the water obviously is not sweet.

 

[magritte2]

There's a fairly large city in Mexico called Matamoros, which would be Moor-killer if it's not a corruption of the original name.

There's a town in Newfoundland called Dildo. Apparently the name goes back to at least 1711 but its origin is unknown.

 

[GreatUberGeek]

There's a fairly large city in Mexico called Matamoros, which would be Moor-killer if it's not a corruption of the original name.

There's a town in Newfoundland called Dildo. Apparently the name goes back to at least 1711 but its origin is unknown.

There's a Dildo festival.

 

[profxyz]

Some more terrible Hong Kong names:

Apparently when the British were surveying the territory, they asked locals what the name of certain areas were, and the (obviously patriotic) locals did their bit for the motherland...

含倫角 Ham Lun Kok - Oral Sex Corner
番鬼倫洲 Fan Kwai Lun Chau - Western Devil's Penis Island
扯旗山 Che Kei Shan - Erection (yes, that erection) Peak
糞箕托 Fan Kei Tok - Shit-basket Hill

Unfortunately the British finally found out in the 1990s and humorlessly changed them. There's also stuff like Man Fuk Road, Fuk On Lane and stuff. ('Fuk' is Cantonese for 'luck' so it appears quite often).



And as a bonus, see if you can figure out why Rednaxela Terrace has such a weird name...

 

[MrTrt]

There's a fairly large city in Mexico called Matamoros, which would be Moor-killer if it's not a corruption of the original name.

There's a town in Newfoundland called Dildo. Apparently the name goes back to at least 1711 but its origin is unknown.

That's also a relatively frequent surname in Spain (Matamoros I mean) but that one makes sense, it comes from the Reconquista era. Matajudíos in a town known for its tolerance and its laws protecting the jews doesn't make sense.

 

[Premu]

Some more terrible Hong Kong names:

Apparently when the British were surveying the territory, they asked locals what the name of certain areas were, and the (obviously patriotic) locals did their bit for the motherland...

含倫角 Ham Lun Kok - Oral Sex Corner
番鬼倫洲 Fan Kwai Lun Chau - Western Devil's Penis Island
扯旗山 Che Kei Shan - Erection (yes, that erection) Peak
糞箕托 Fan Kei Tok - Shit-basket Hill

Unfortunately the British finally found out in the 1990s and humorlessly changed them. There's also stuff like Man Fuk Road, Fuk On Lane and stuff. ('Fuk' is Cantonese for 'luck' so it appears quite often).

View attachment 113600

And as a bonus, see if you can figure out why Rednaxela Terrace has such a weird name...

This reminds me at Canada ("Village" in its original meaning) or the countless rivers in England called "Avon" (simply river in old celtic). You should always double check the apparent names the locals give you.

 

[Arilou]

That's also a relatively frequent surname in Spain (Matamoros I mean) but that one makes sense, it comes from the Reconquista era. Matajudíos in a town known for its tolerance and its laws protecting the jews doesn't make sense.

Matamoros also was a name that became associated with St. Jacob (Santiago) so it's also a saint's-name.

 

[Arilou]

This reminds me at Canada ("Village" in its original meaning) or the countless rivers in England called "Avon" (simply river in old celtic). You should always double check the apparent names the locals give you.

The common explanation for "Yucatan" is that it means "I don't understand what you're saying." or something like it.

 

[Mr Repwoc]

In Old English, Ethiopia is Sigelhearwenaland. I've no idea about the etymology of this, does anybody else?

 

[Hibernian]

In Old English, Ethiopia is Sigelhearwenaland. I've no idea about the etymology of this, does anybody else?

Weird. I can't find any information about it by Googling "Sigelhearwenaland", other than the Old English Wikipedia, but that doesn't cite any sources. This may be something that Old English Wikipedia have made up to give an Old English name for the country.

 

[Gordy]

In Old English, Ethiopia is Sigelhearwenaland. I've no idea about the etymology of this, does anybody else?

From memory it is to do with the "burnt skin" of the inhabitants.

 

[Mr Repwoc]

From memory it is to do with the "burnt skin" of the inhabitants.

Interesting. Do you have a source for that? I've tried looking for an Old English translation of the chapters Bible which mention Ethiopia. Though much of the Bible is translated I've struggled to find a relevant chapter translated.