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Joined: Mar 2003
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stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2 |
Dear People
Is it a coincidence that today's word (14/5/03 in London, England) "potamic" sounds like the river Potomac? Would be interested in any thoughts on this!
regards
Nilla
Nilla
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
AHD is silent on the matter, but the name Potomac is almost certainly from a Native American word. Such coincidences abound.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Hi, nilla and welcome to a fellow Brit!
All I can find on Potomac confirms that it is Native American in origin:
Potomac: River forming the boundary line between Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. Indian Patowmek or Potowmak, "they are coming by water"; another translation, "place of the burning pine," allusion to a council fire.
Can't explain why there are two wildly different translations. Maybe the name occurs in two tribal languages with different meanings. There will be others who can give us more information I'm sure.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Thank God the colonists did not copy the names of the British rivers they had known. The use of English cities
was overdone with many duplications. I have read that in the twenties, the mayor of Bridgewater, England, came to US, he planned to visit every town here named Bridgewater, but had to give up that plan because there is one in almost every State. With War of 1812 a reaction set in. The towns on the coast of Maine were unprotected and brutalized so savagely, that new towns were called "China, Norway, Lisbon Falls", etc.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Yes, welcome aBoard, nilla! I am baffled by your word potamic; I haven't been able to find it anywhere. I am also curious as to how the two pronunciations compare. Just from looking at it, I would probably tend to pronounce yours as POT-uh-mick. The river in D.C. is puh-TOE-mick.
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
Ya, know, I figured it for a coincidence and thought maybe the specific river was named after some indian word, but couldn't find a reference for it.
k
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
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I haven't been able to find it anywhere.
You mean, besides in your WAD E-mail, Jackie? <eg>
Welcome to the madhouse, nilla! It's another of the wonderful coincidences, I guess.
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Joined: Apr 2003
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Apr 2003
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It could be the beginning of a hint that ancient Greeks and native Americans somehow knew each other.
a puzzle a day keeps the hassle away
A puzzle a day keeps the hassle away
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
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Potomac was Algonquin for cloaca maxima, wasn't it? 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
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We used to give that name to the East River...I guess there may be more than one after all
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