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Joined: Aug 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
Jordan was originally (ca. 1925) called "Trans-Jordan" by the Brits, meaning the country on the other side of [the river] Jordan.
byb uses "country" in the sense of "territory". Until 1948 this area was a trust territory administered by Great Britain, not an independent country.
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Kenya - for Jomo Kenyatta who, legend tells, did not want the country named for him therefore the change in pronunciation. KEN-ya from KEEN=yatta.
I think he came to power after the Mau Mau raised some hell, killed some British planters/farmers and the Brits responded by interning many hundreds of native peoples and confiscating their lands etc. Then came independence. I believe Kenyatta was leader of the Thicka (sp?) party of which the Mau Mau were a militant off-shoot group.
Whew! my memory dredged that up from where (God-alone-knows) I had it tucked it away.
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Joined: Nov 2000
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old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
WOW wow!!
Thanks for that one - a beauty!
stales
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Stales - you cause me to . Just an off-shoot of having lived through a lot of history and a decent memory for past. Now, where did I put those keys ?????
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addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460 |
and then, of course, there's Oz, named after Frank (of Muppets fame) or, perhaps, after that wizard?
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Joined: Dec 2000
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 393 |
Kenya was around long before Kenyatta. The British colony of Kenya probably was, and I think Jomo Kenyatta might have been, named for Mt Kenya. On a side-note, I once read that "Jomo" was the sound of a knife being taken out of a sheath.
Other countries named for individual people:
Solomon Islands Wallis and Futuna Islands (the Wallis part anyway) Cook Islands Pitcairn Islands Falkland Islands St Helena St Christopher (and Nevis) St Vincent Bermuda (? - named after one Bermudez?) Georgia (though only in English, Russian etc., not in its native form Sakartvelo) Belize (? - said by some to be an alteration of Wallace) St Pierre (and Miquelon) Tristan da Cunha (an explorer?) Northern Marianas (but who was Mariana, or was this a Spanish name after the Virgin Mary?) [That's enough countries. - Ed.]
Hi Jackie, I'm back
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
Bermuda (? - named after one Bermudez?)Yup. There were two Bermudezes, and the island was named after the short one.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
the short oneAugh! Oh, GROAN!! But...
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
Last post on this subject...
Thought I'd collate the responses into a final list for us all to keep and study for that next Quiz Night. Apologies if any are still contentious - the ones below fill the criteria I set myself when thinking of the subject.
(1) (United States of) America (2) Belize (3) Bermuda (4) Bolivia (5) Columbia (6) Cook Islands (7) Falkland Islands (8) Israel (9) Northern Marianas (10) Pitcairn Islands (11) (Rhodesia) (12) Saint Christopher (13) Saint Helena (14) Saint Pierre (15) Saint Vincent (16) San Marino (17) Solomon Islands (18) The Philippines (19) Tristan da Cunha (named for its Portuguese discoverer in 1506, Tristao da Cunha)
Thanks to all contributors
stales
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