another toponym - and a misnomer too

Wordsmith.org

I would suppose Timbuktu is another toponym then, like Siberia. It's used to mean the ends of the earth, connoting a far-off, imaginary place.

The real reason I'm posting this is to let you guys know about the "real" Timbuktu.

Timbuktu does actually exist, sort of. You can find it on a map. Timbuktu is a major city in Mali (western Africa). It was made famous for its position on major trade routes in the thirteenth century, if not earlier.

The name is a quandary all its own. (As told to my African studies class by a guy from Mali, whose family is one of the ancestral ruling families ...) While "Timbuktu" is the most common spelling you'll find, it's a bastardized version of the real name. The actual name of this place is Tonbuktu. I can't be sure of the spelling, since it was explained orally, but it's pronounced tawn*buck*too. The pronunciation of the French version (Mali was a French colony for a while), Tombouctou, comes close to this.

According to this guy, it's from "ton," meaning "well" (from which you draw water), and "Buktu," some chick. So it's the well of Buktu. Apparently there was this particular well, on the trade routes, and it took on a life of its own ...

Eat a live toad first thing in the morning, and nothing worse can happen to you the rest of the day.

Good one, KY ... er, Jelly?

Actually there was a documentary made, I think by the Beeb, a couple of years ago which was about Timbuktu. Pretty much as you described it, I guess. Its glory days were definitely in the past and it was all rather decrepit. Talk about ruined allusions!

Keep on postin'! {wink]

Hi kickyerass and WELCOME

- good to have you with us.

Thanks for the Well of Buktu information... you are a well-th of information already.

As an aside, Siberia was the name I gave to one of the highly air conditioned and very remote offices I worked in. There was a sign up at the entrance which said "Welcome to Siberia - it's a long way from anywhere and it's damn cold!"

Don't know much about Timbuktu, but I infer from your name that you must be a violent Republican. Given the party symbolism in the USA, one can deduce that most violent people come from the so-called "conservative" side. After all, one frequently hears redneck types threatening, "I'm gonna kick your ass," but one never hears a tree-hugging, granola-munching Democrat, no matter how large or how skilled in fighting, say, "I'm gonna kick your elephant!"

You might be gleaning to much fromt he screenname, Geoff. We do have a sampling of aggressive-sounding screennames here, belligerentyouth perhaps being the most extreme example but not the sole one (maverick, egotismHurls, and my own nick). (By the way, who was "Marduk"?) It'll be interesting to see what KY has to say in his future posts, to which I look forward.

But I do agree with everything else Geoff said (except for any implication that Democrats are

asinus).

(maverick,
egotismHurls, and my own nick). (By the way, who was "Marduk"?)

Without looking it up, I've always thought that Bel Marduk was a Babylonian deity. How is Maverick at all aggressive? An unruly bovine, or an old Ford, but not threatening. Egotism Hurls? Sounds as if he makes himself sick! As for your own, take away your soap box and what have you got? Just a maniacal mime!

>Eat a live toad first thing in the morning, and nothing worse can happen to you the rest of the day.

Of course, I've been doing that for years!