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Your Nation/Continent/Ocean has a name with an origin.

Feb 7, 2011#1

GasBandit

Added at: 11:38
My favorite? Namibia = "Land where there is nothing."

Feb 7, 2011#2

sixpackshaker

Namibia is correct.

Feb 7, 2011#3

Wahad

I think Bhutan wins for ''land with most badass name origin'', though Ethiopia is a close contender (''Land of the Thunder Dragon'' and ''Of Burnt Visage'', respectively)

Feb 7, 2011#4

North_Ranger

Hmmm... Only one possible option listed for my part of the neighborhood, it seems.

Some other possibilities:
- Fen Land, as in marshy terrain. Possible, there's a lot of woods around here.
- Land of the Finns
- Some people suggest that Suomi (Finland in Finnish) is related to Sampo, which is the mythical mill of good fortune. Something of a cornucopia, with one side creating grain, another salt and the third gold. If memory serves, some scholars also suggest Sampo to be of more mythological symbolism, closer to the Sami word samas or shamas, meaning the pin of the world which keeps the world in its place in the cosmos.

Feb 7, 2011#5

Silver Jelly

I always thought Hispania meant "land of rabbits"

Feb 7, 2011#6

North_Ranger

Silver Jelly said:
I always thought Hispania meant "land of rabbits"

I thought it meant "Rip the tourists off"

Feb 7, 2011#7

Silver Jelly

Oh, no, that's not a name, it's more like a tradition.

Feb 7, 2011#8

Gusto

Madagascar = End of the Earth.

Incredible.

Feb 7, 2011#9

checkeredhat

Every Canadian already knows the origin of Canada.

Feb 8, 2011#10

tegid

Silver Jelly said:
I always thought Hispania meant "land of rabbits"

From Wikipedia:

wikipedia said:
It may derive from the Canaanite Hebrew אי-שפניא (i-shfania) meaning "Island of the Hyrax" or "island of the hare" or "island of the rabbit". Another theory, proposed by the etymologist Eric Partridge in his work Origins, is that it is of Iberian derivation and that it is to be found in the pre-Roman name for Seville, Hispalis, which strongly hints at an ancient name for the country of *Hispa, an Iberian or Celtic root whose meaning is now lost. It may alternatively derive from Heliopolis (Greek for "city of the sun"). Occasionally it was called Hesperia, the western land, by Roman writers, or Hesperia ultima.

Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place.[3][4] Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis.[5]

Feb 8, 2011#11

@Li3n

Pretty sure the map got Bulgaria mixed up with the country right above it...

Feb 8, 2011#12

Gusto

checkeredhat said:
Every Canadian already knows the origin of Canada.

Exactly! I opened this thread thinking "It's the Village!"

Feb 14, 2011#13

Calleja

The most original, creative and poetic name goes to the US, though, of course.

Feb 14, 2011#14

themike

It's the land without a real name

Feb 15, 2011#15

Calleja

It's the Wash way of naming things, really... "We will rule over all this land and we will call it... This Land"

"We will unite our states that are in America and we will call it... The United States of America".

Feb 15, 2011#16

GasBandit

Calleja said:
It's the Wash way of naming things, really... "We will rule over all this land and we will call it... This Land"

"We will unite our states that are in America and we will call it... The United States of America".

That's actually a very common way to name things. After all, they also united the soviets of several socialist republics and became the United Soviet Socialist Republic.

And don't get me started on how many "People's and/or Democratic and/or Republics of Whatever" there are.

Feb 16, 2011#17

Silver Jelly

Shrewmice are where it's at.

Feb 16, 2011#18

@Li3n

GasBandit said:
That's actually a very common way to name things. After all, they also united the soviets of several socialist republics and became the United Soviet Socialist Republic.

And don't get me started on how many "People's and/or Democratic and/or Republics of Whatever" there are.

Yes, it's quite incredible how made up on the spot names usually suck...

Columbia at least sounds like a country instead of some sort of business conglomerate. But then i don't see you guys growing enough drugs for that...

Feb 16, 2011#19

checkeredhat

I think the laziest name goes to the province Newfoundland. Guess what it means.

Feb 16, 2011#20

Gusto

checkeredhat said:
I think the laziest name goes to the province Newfoundland. Guess what it means.

Really? Not Northwest Territories?

Feb 16, 2011#21

Calleja

GasBandit said:
That's actually a very common way to name things. After all, they also united the soviets of several socialist republics and became the United Soviet Socialist Republic.

And don't get me started on how many "People's and/or Democratic and/or Republics of Whatever" there are.

But all the "People's and/or Democratic and/or Republics of Whatever" at least GET a "Whatever" that's a proper, unique name. Like "Soviet". You guys don't even have a "Soviet" equivalent other than the WHOLE FREAKING CONTINENT you're on.

Feb 16, 2011#22

Frankie Williamson

Canada was up until a few decades ago known fully as The Dominion of Canada. Which is awesome.

Feb 16, 2011#23

GasBandit

Calleja said:
But all the "People's and/or Democratic and/or Republics of Whatever" at least GET a "Whatever" that's a proper, unique name. Like "Soviet". You guys don't even have a "Soviet" equivalent other than the WHOLE FREAKING CONTINENT you're on.

Soviet is not a whatever, soviet is a body of government. It would be basically the "United Congressional Democratic Republic" if it were applied to the united states.

Feb 16, 2011#24

Calleja

That may well have been it at first, but "Soviet" sure as hell works as a proper name NOW. It's the Soviet Union, whatever the etymology of the word might be. You guys don't even have the advantage of a word you ASSIMILATED into a proper name... you still have to use the whole continent's.

Feb 16, 2011#25

GasBandit

Calleja said:
That may well have been it at first, but "Soviet" sure as hell works as a proper name NOW. It's the Soviet Union, whatever the etymology of the word might be. You guys don't even have the advantage of a word you ASSIMILATED into a proper name... you still have to use the whole continent's.

No. Sorry. If that's your argument, then American is also a valid proper name now for citizen of the US, which invalidates your entire point.

Feb 16, 2011#26

checkeredhat

Gusto said:
Really? Not Northwest Territories?

touche. But atleast that's a geographical description.

Feb 17, 2011#27

@Li3n

GasBandit said:
No. Sorry. If that's your argument, then American is also a valid proper name now for citizen of the US, which invalidates your entire point.

I think his point is that there's still not one but two continents that are also called America.

It's like the Kingdom of Azeroth, on the continent of Azeroth on the planet of... well you get it... even blizz had to change something.

Feb 17, 2011#28

GasBandit

@Li3n said:
I think his point is that there's still not one but two continents that are also called America.

It's like the Kingdom of Azeroth, on the continent of Azeroth on the planet of... well you get it... even blizz had to change something.

His point is apparently also that origins and original meanings of words are irrelevant, and that it's only the conventional contemporary zeitgeist that defines what is a proper name and what is just a noun.

Feb 17, 2011#29

Calleja

No, your "proper name" is not your own at all... I've stepped on USA soil 4 times in my life and I AM an American. Born and raised. Chileans are Americans. Canadians are Americans. Brazilians are Americans.

People from the States don't get their own, exclusive name.

Feb 17, 2011#30

Disconnected

I'm confused.

Feb 17, 2011#31

@Li3n

GasBandit said:
His point is apparently also that origins and original meanings of words are irrelevant, and that it's only the conventional contemporary zeitgeist that defines what is a proper name and what is just a noun.

I'm pretty sure american as someone from the continent/s is still contemporary...

Disconnected said:
I'm confused.

RABBIT SEASON!!!!

Feb 17, 2011#32

Disconnected

@Li3n said:
RABBIT SEASON!!!!

DUCK SEASON!!!!!!

Feb 17, 2011#33

GasBandit

Calleja said:
No, your "proper name" is not your own at all... I've stepped on USA soil 4 times in my life and I AM an American. Born and raised. Chileans are Americans. Canadians are Americans. Brazilians are Americans.

People from the States don't get their own, exclusive name.

Except we do, and it's Americans. You're a Mexican, in case you didn't know.

Oh, and it's called "soccer."

Feb 17, 2011#34

sixpackshaker

Shouldn't Mexico be "Land/City of the Mexica" ?

Feb 18, 2011#35

Calleja

GasBandit said:
Except we do, and it's Americans. You're a Mexican, in case you didn't know.

Oh, and it's called "soccer."

I'm a Mexican AND an American, born and raised in North America. More than that.. I'm also a "Unitedstatesian" since the official name of Mexico is "United Mexican Sates" (Estados Unidos Mexicanos). So you don't even have THAT exclusivity going on for you.

Feb 18, 2011#36

sixpackshaker

You are not American. You are North American.

Maybe you guys should have done your revolution first.

Feb 18, 2011#37

Calleja

I'm North American which also makes me American. Just as South Americans are Americans. America is still a continent, no matter how much you guys try to take over the name. (For instance, The International Olympic Committeehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Olympic_Committee considers "America" one of the five populated continents, as represented by the five rings on the Olympic flag.)

Also... my ancestors have been here for WAY longer than yours. So nyah nyah to your revolution.

Feb 18, 2011#38

sixpackshaker

Wow, your ancestors came over on Dinosaurs?
Added at: 16:48
Olympic Committee? so those racist did not include South America?

Feb 18, 2011#39

@Li3n

sixpackshaker said:
Wow, your ancestors came over on Dinosaurs?

Dinosaur immigrants?! No dude, his ancestors where the original, trilobite riding colonists...

Feb 18, 2011#40

Calleja

Your ancestors are NOT Native Americans unless you're in the minority. Mexicans, on the other part, have half of their heritage rooted firmly in Aztec/Mayan/Chichimeca/What have you cultures. These guys were here way before Jamestown was founded. And the Spanish which are the other half of our heritage were here before your puritan ancestors, too.

All I'm saying with this is your "you should have had your revolution first" argument is a stupid one since we have more "claim" to the American name than you late-comers do. Independence or not.

Feb 18, 2011#41

sixpackshaker

I am a small part Native American, but I am likely more Native than you are. You were New Spain at the time of our Revolution, and we took the name of the continent because nobody else was using it. It is history, so lets build a bridge to the future, and get over it.

Feb 18, 2011#42

GasBandit

Calleja said:
I'm a Mexican AND an American, born and raised in North America. More than that.. I'm also a "Unitedstatesian" since the official name of Mexico is "United Mexican Sates" (Estados Unidos Mexicanos). So you don't even have THAT exclusivity going on for you.

Zeitgeist (which you used to define Soviet) says no. Nobody calls it "United Mexican States," they call it Mexico. They call its citizens Mexicans. You're not American, you're just a North American, but not as North American as an actual American

Added at: 12:30

Calleja said:
Your ancestors are NOT Native Americans unless you're in the minority. Mexicans, on the other part, have half of their heritage rooted firmly in Aztec/Mayan/Chichimeca/What have you cultures. These guys were here way before Jamestown was founded. And the Spanish which are the other half of our heritage were here before your puritan ancestors, too.

All I'm saying with this is your "you should have had your revolution first" argument is a stupid one since we have more "claim" to the American name than you late-comers do. Independence or not.

Sorry, it's not the first to be there, it's the first to make it count. That's why they call Marconi the father of radio instead of Tesla.

Feb 18, 2011#43

Joe Johnson

But Tesla got more radio play then Marconi ever did.

Feb 18, 2011#44

Tress

Okay Calleja. Let's pretend you go overseas to any country... we'll randomly choose France for this exercise. Tell people you are an American. Then, ask them to point on a map where your country is. I will give you $100 for every person who points to Mexico. For every person who points to the United States, you have to give me $1.

Which of us do you really think will have more money by the end of the day?

Feb 22, 2011#45

Calleja

Um.. dude.. they would point to the continent. Not a country. Not Mexico. The continent. To the rest of the world, except maybe the UK, you're "the States", not "America".

Besides, Tress, I think you need to read up on this:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum

Feb 22, 2011#46

sixpackshaker

If you tell anyone you are an American, they will think the states...

let it go.

Feb 22, 2011#47

GasBandit

Calleja said:
I think you need to read up on this:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum

Which is exactly the argument you used to define Soviet.

Feb 22, 2011#48

Tress

Calleja said:
Um.. dude.. they would point to the continent. Not a country. Not Mexico. The continent. To the rest of the world, except maybe the UK, you're "the States", not "America".

Besides, Tress, I think you need to read up on this:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum

Um... dude... language (such as our current example, the term "American") is decided entirely by popular opinion. That's the very nature of linguistics. So, your logical fallacy has no bearing here. A word's definition is decided entirely by whether or not most people use it a certain way.

But hey, thanks for playing.

BTW, it's silly to say "Most people would agree with me!" as the basis of your argument, then claim someone else is wrong for using the same argument.

Feb 22, 2011#49

Calleja

So we agree, then, that your country has no name? Cool, we're cool.

Feb 22, 2011#50

Tress

Sure. Whatever makes you sleep better at night.

Feb 22, 2011#51

Calleja

Feb 23, 2011#52

@Li3n

Tress said:
Okay Calleja. Let's pretend you go overseas to any country... we'll randomly choose France for this exercise. Tell people you are an American. Then, ask them to point on a map where your country is. I will give you $100 for every person who points to Mexico. For every person who points to the United States, you have to give me $1.

Neither, because they'll probably be able to tell from he's accent that he's not from the US.

But really, people refer to usaians as americans because that's how they refer to themselves, while the rest of the people on the continent actually have proper names...

It's not like most people of the world don't realise that anyone from the Americas is technically an american.

Feb 23, 2011#53

Silver Jelly

sixpackshaker said:
You are not American. You are North American.

Maybe you guys should have done your revolution first.

The fact that if you tlle me you are american I assume you are from the US doens't mean Mexicans aren't American.

Mexico is in America, one of the five continents in the world, American revolution or not.

Feb 23, 2011#54

sixpackshaker

And you are Eurasian not Spanish and not European, am I doing this right?

Feb 23, 2011#55

Cog

He is Eurasian, European, Spanish, and probably Barcelonés.
I'm American, Southamerican, Ecuatorian, Manabita and Portovejense

Feb 23, 2011#56

sixpackshaker

I'm Texan and American (citizen.)

Feb 23, 2011#57

Baerdog

I'M SPARTACUS!

Feb 23, 2011#58

@Li3n

THIS IS SPARTA!!!!!!!!

Feb 23, 2011#59

GasBandit

A guy living in russia posts on a message board saying he is Asian. 100% of the people who read that post assume he's got slanty eyes and is probably good at math.

Feb 23, 2011#60

Silver Jelly

sixpackshaker said:
And you are Eurasian not Spanish and not European, am I doing this right?

You are doing it wrong. The convention that doesn't distinguish between north and south america as continents, wich is the one Calleja is using (he referred to the olympic rings) does consider Asia and Europe to be different continents. That is, I'm European, I'm from the European Union (European again, the same way you are American and American), I'm Spanish, I'm Catalan and I'm from Barcelona. (or, as Cog correctly said, "Barcelonés").

If we go look at my citizenships, I'm legally a Spanish and Italian citizen.

Feb 23, 2011#61

sixpackshaker

By geographic convention North and South America are two different continents. And it is getting to the point that Eurasia is only one land mass. The Urals are little more than hills. Also you are part of the larger Asia-Africa-European landmass. The only thing separating Africa from Asia and Europe is a ditch.

Feb 23, 2011#62

Silver Jelly

Bah, whatever. All this is Football/soccer all over again.

Feb 23, 2011#63

GasBandit

Silver Jelly said:
Bah, whatever. All this is Football/soccer all over again.

Nah, that's settled. If the ball isn't oblong, it isn't football.

Feb 24, 2011#64

@Li3n

GasBandit said:
A guy living in russia posts on a message board saying he is Asian. 100% of the people who read that post assume he's got slanty eyes and is probably good at math.

Unless he's been siberia'd there's a good chance that at least the eyes are like that...

sixpackshaker said:
And you are Eurasian not Spanish and not European, am I doing this right?

Afro-Eurasian actually...

Antarctica and Australia are the only distinct landmass continents really.

EDIT: Uh, relevant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States

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