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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Page 3 of 5 1 2 3 4 5 Re: City name origins #4834 04/10/02 04:25 PM Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,692 UK D dxb Pooh-Bah dxb Pooh-Bah D Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,692 UK Jackie, thanks for the response. Any others out there? Billings sounds as though it may be named after a person (that word again) rather than a "back in the old country" town. There is no Billings in Europe - there's a bold statement! Nevertheless the person's name obviously derives from old Billa and his folk. Thanks also for the marvellous link - I am amazed that at 4.00am they were sober enough to write it whilst at the same time being drunk enough to write it! dxb. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: City name origins #4835 04/10/02 04:41 PM Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,692 UK D dxb Pooh-Bah dxb Pooh-Bah D Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,692 UK Dear Phyllisstein (I love that pseudonym), I just love the way the English have mangled French expressions over time. And then they wonder why the "Frogs" despise them. The French don't despise us. The truth is that they choose to appear as though they despise us in order to disguise the fact that they are totally baffled by our straightforwardness. They can't believe anyone can be that straightforward, it must be a cover up for something really devious, so they label us "perfidious Albion". Anyone remember whose phrase that was? Since Paris is just about my favourite city (San Francisco and Edinburgh almost equal it), I can't afford to believe they really despise me! dxb. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter French vs. English #4836 04/10/02 04:51 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 31 Cape Town, S. Africa P Phyllisstein newbie Phyllisstein newbie P Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 31 Cape Town, S. Africa Since Paris is just about my favourite city (San Francisco and Edinburgh almost equal it), I can't afford to believe they really despise me! Sorry, dxb. Just teasing with tasteless stereotypes. And your love of Edinburgh seems quite in tune for a Francophile; it always strikes me as a very French-looking city somehow. On a complete tangent (is this allowed?): I was amazed to learn recently that the English court spoke French almost exclusively (and never bothered to learn the language of the populace) for a few hundred years. Maybe that's why the great unwashed took such pleasure in mangling the French phrases. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Matt Dillon #4837 04/10/02 05:00 PM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 have I missed something? http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=miscellany&Number=3213 It's not something that's likely to be known by most anyone but USns. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Matt Dillon #4838 04/10/02 05:15 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,773 Sparteye Pooh-Bah Sparteye Pooh-Bah Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,773 And how many of y'all who know who Matt Dillon was also know who played him on the original radio show? ONE! Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter name origins #4839 04/10/02 08:23 PM Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 10,548 Likes: 1 Worcester, MA W wofahulicodoc Carpal Tunnel wofahulicodoc Carpal Tunnel W Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 10,548 Likes: 1 Worcester, MA a large number of English place names are Saxon in origin... On an analogous note - is there any truth to the statement that "Torpenhow Hill" represents four generations of conquest, linguistic assimilation, and inadvertent redundancy bred of ignorance, and would really be "HillHillHill Hill" if translated back into the respective languages of the successive conquerors? i.e., TOR = hill in indigenous language PEN = hill in language of first conqueror, who called it Tor Pen, thinking it was "Tor Hill" HOW = hill by next wave, giving "Torpen How" in his language HILL by most recent, etc., giving the present Torpenhow Hill Or is this all just another appealing Urban Legend? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Torpenhow Hill #4840 04/10/02 08:47 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 771 Portland, Oregon Fiberbabe old hand Fiberbabe old hand Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 771 Portland, Oregon Dunno wofa... but "tor" is Norse, no? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Torpenhow Hill #4841 04/10/02 08:49 PM Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 10,548 Likes: 1 Worcester, MA W wofahulicodoc Carpal Tunnel wofahulicodoc Carpal Tunnel W Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 10,548 Likes: 1 Worcester, MA "tor" is Norse, no? Don't know for sure, but it's English by now ! At least in all the crossword puzzles. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Tor #4842 04/10/02 08:55 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 771 Portland, Oregon Fiberbabe old hand Fiberbabe old hand Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 771 Portland, Oregon Well, ICLIU from http://m-w.com: Main Entry: tor Pronunciation: 'tor Function: noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English torr Date: before 12th century : a high craggy hill Hmmph. I coulda sworn. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter TorPenHow again #4843 04/10/02 10:04 PM Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 10,548 Likes: 1 Worcester, MA W wofahulicodoc Carpal Tunnel wofahulicodoc Carpal Tunnel W Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 10,548 Likes: 1 Worcester, MA from m-w.com: tor...noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English torr Date: before 12th century a high craggy hill ...and M-W is no help at all for Pen (n) = hill (though it does give "prison" and "female swan" and nothing whatsoever to suggest How (n) = hill... 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