"Vermont," taken literally, means "Worm Mountain" (was: Re: FW: Indian Summer,...)

[Dennis R. Preston]

And Gnaw Bone, Indiana (from Narbonne). My personal favorite.

dInIs

>At 1:48 PM -0500 3/24/03, James A. Landau wrote:
>>
>>One final note:  "Vermont" is French, "Vert Mont" or "Green Mountain", and
>>there is a range called the "Green Mountains" in it.  Are the Green Mountains
>>mostly covered with evergreens, in which case you won't see bare branches in
>>winter?
>
>
>   "Vermont" was no doubt *intended* to mean "Green Mountain," but in
>fact it means "Worm Mountain" (French "le ver" = the worm). Most
>French adjectives follow the noun (with a few very noticeable
>exceptions, e.g. beau/belle, bon/bonne).  So the name was evidently
>coined by Americans who knew a bit of French but not enough to get
>the name right. The correct name would be "Montvert."
>
>    "Vermont" evidently joins a long list of French names in the U.S.
>which somehow got mangled; e.g., Smackover (Arkansas, I believe) from
>"Chemin Couvert" and "Picketwire (River)" from "Rivière du)
>Purgatoire," "Lemon Fair (Creek)" from "Les Monts Verts."
>
>    I once read a story about how "Vermont" got its name but don't
>remember the source and hence can't vouch for its authenticity.  It
>had something to do with the residents of what is now Vermont wanting
>to assert their independence from
>an area with a noticeable population of German origin (what is now
>New Hampshire?) and chose a French name to help establish the
>distinctiveness of the new state.  If this is correct, perhaps
>someone could provide some clarifying detail.  If it's wrong in any
>way, please read this last paragraph with mercy in your hearts..
>
>Gerald Cohen

--
Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic,
      Asian & African Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027
e-mail: preston at msu.edu
phone: (517) 353-9290