Collection of Science Jokes P2

In summary: Usually it's been commentated as being 'real'. Actually the joke dates back to the 30's and whether it's real or not cannot be said anymore.
  • #3,396
Orodruin said:
Not the first time linguistic challenges play a role. Reminds me of the bridge of the bridge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puente_de_Alcántara
Obviously some spaniards asked the Moors what it was, and so the Moors answered "the bridge" (Alcantara) whereby the Spanish promptly named it the bridge of (puente de) the bridge (Alcantara).

Apparently the world is full of such examples:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tautological_place_names

Edit: Also meet hill hill hill: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendle_Hill
We certainly cannot beat "Canada":
https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/origin-name-canada.html#a1 said:
The name “Canada” likely comes from the Huron-Iroquois word “kanata,” meaning “village” or “settlement.” In 1535, two Aboriginal youths told French explorer Jacques Cartier about the route to kanata; they were actually referring to the village of Stadacona, the site of the present-day City of Québec. For lack of another name, Cartier used the word “Canada” to describe not only the village, but the entire area controlled by its chief, Donnacona.

The name was soon applied to a much larger area; maps in 1547 designated everything north of the St. Lawrence River as Canada. Cartier also called the St. Lawrence River the “rivière du Canada,” a name used until the early 1600s. By 1616, although the entire region was known as New France, the area along the great river of Canada and the Gulf of St. Lawrence was still called Canada.

Soon explorers and fur traders opened up territory to the west and to the south, and the area known as Canada grew. In the early 1700s, the name referred to all French lands in what is now the American Midwest and as far south as present-day Louisiana.

The first use of Canada as an official name came in 1791, when the Province of Quebec was divided into the colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. In 1841, the two colonies were united under one name, the Province of Canada.
 
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  • #3,397
jack action said:
We certainly cannot beat "Canada":
literal-country-names-map.jpg


Edit: uploaded image doesn't look good. Try this link.
 
  • #3,398
  • Haha
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  • #3,399
Borg said:
I hear that his brother etc. is also prolific writer.
When I was a child, I actually believed that there was a prolific writer called Anon.
 
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  • #3,400
Screenshot 2024-04-18 at 9.12.05 AM.png
 
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