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#74424 06/28/02 01:03 PM
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With the World Cup in full swing I was wondering why a turkey (bird) and Turkey (country) share the same name. I'd be really interested to find out how two so completely different things came to have the same name. Thanks



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#74425 06/28/02 01:15 PM
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Welcome aBoard Kay

This one proved a lot more straightforward than I expected. I had been going on the theory that there was no relation in the etymologies of the two words, that the two words had ended up sounding the same by accident.

However, from Merriem Webster (http://www.webster.com):

Main Entry: turˇkey
Pronunciation: 't&r-kE
Function: noun
Etymology: Turkey, country in western Asia and southeastern Europe; from confusion with the guinea fowl, supposed to be imported from Turkish territory

So there you have it. Unless M-W is wrong, of course...

Fisk



#74426 06/28/02 02:22 PM
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here's a couple of links about Turkey(the country):

http://www.turkishembassy.org/countryprofile/anatolia.htm
http://www.firmam.8m.com/trintro.htm

I was curious as to what those in Turkey call their country.
there's a lot of history there!



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#74427 06/28/02 02:39 PM
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I was curious as to what those in Turkey call their country

I like the name for the main land mass: Anatolia

Poetic.




#74428 06/28/02 02:40 PM
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Welcome, Kay!

I'd heard a thing on the radio about turkey (the bird). Apparently there has long been mass confusion worldwide about where the bird came from, so each language gave it a name attributing it to, what is to them, a foreign, exotic, faraway land. In Turkish, it's hindi, which sounds like they believe it was from India! Further support for this is found in Scandinavian words for the same bird - I believe, for example, it's kalkun in Norwegian ("from Calcutta" or something like that) Also, in French, it's dindon (or is it dinde?), more or less equivalent to d'Inde: from India.


#74429 06/28/02 03:03 PM
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in Turkish, it's hindi, which sounds like they believe it was from India

Fascinating, old Bean.

So are they confused where the bird came from in Calcutta or India? It would be neat if Indians also called it something like "turkey".

I doubt it would be the first time two countries attributed the same species of animal to one other. Especially if it were a virus rather than an animal


#74430 06/28/02 03:18 PM
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I hope I'm not repeating something previously said, but I have read that Ben Franklin
proposed the turkey as our national bird, because it is much smarter than the
eagle.


#74431 06/28/02 03:53 PM
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you could also search AWAD for more information, as this subject has come up before.. but it was a good while ago..

all exotic things were associated with "turkish" merchants, and so any new exoitic thing was "turkish" when the new bird appeared, it was a turkey..

similarly, "copiers" tend to become Xerox machines, and "coke" in someparts of US is generic for carbonated, sweetened beverages..


#74432 06/28/02 04:04 PM
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so any new exotic thing was "turkish" when the new bird appeared, it was a turkey..

I find it very hard to think of a turkey as exotic

Mind you, my mum's mentioned once or twice how - not that long ago (1960s)- chickens used to be a real rarity (at least in this country).

Really hard to imagine these days.



#74433 06/28/02 04:08 PM
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I would guess that the turkey bore some resemblance to the peacock, certainly exotic, and also from the same region of the world, I believe.



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