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stranger
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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
Copycat
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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 territorySo there you have it. Unless M-W is wrong, of course... Fisk
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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.
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old hand
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old hand
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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.
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in Turkish, it's hindi, which sounds like they believe it was from IndiaFascinating, 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  
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Carpal Tunnel
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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.
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Carpal Tunnel
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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..
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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.
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Carpal Tunnel
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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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