Flatbush

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 19:57:55 EDT, James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at AOL.COM> wrote:

>My brother-in-law, who grew up in Brooklyn, asked me for the etymology of
>the name "Flatbush", which I understand ia a region in Brooklyn and
>coincidentally the password in use at Fort Ticonderoga on the night Ethan
>Allen captured the place.
>
>My first guess is that it refers to some local flat-topped bush.  My
>second guess, based on the existence of a stream named "Bushkill" near
>the Delaware Water Gap, is that it is a Dutch name.

Yep, it's Dutch -- an Anglicization of "Vlacke Bos(ch)" ('wooded plain').


--Ben Zimmer