LL-L "Etymology" 2009.11.26 (01) [EN-NDL]

Thu Nov 26 18:34:05 UTC 2009

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L O W L A N D S - L - 26 November 2009 - Volume 01
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From: TomÃ¡s Ã“ CÃ¡rthaigh <tomasocarthaigh at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2009.11.24 (01) [EN]

QUOTE:
*Incidently, I've heard that Yucatan in Mexico really does mean "I don't
understand you" in a Mayan language; has anybody heard any confirmation of
this?*
*Ã‚ *
*Paul*
UNQUOTE

>From the ever dependable Wikipedia about Yocatan:

Etymology
There is a popular myth that the name YucatÃ¡n comes from the Yucatec
Maya<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucatec_Maya_language>phrase for
"listen how they speak," or "I don't understand your words" â€”
supposedly said by contact period Maya, when the first
Spanish<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain>explorers asked, what the
area was called. The proper derivation of the word
YucatÃ¡n is widely debated. However, it is also claimed that the actual
source of the name "Yucatan" is the Nahuatl (Aztec) word YokatlÄn, "place of
richness."

*"a person with a good book is never alone... a writer until they've written
one is never at peace"*

----------

From: TomÃ¡s Ã“ CÃ¡rthaigh <tomasocarthaigh at yahoo.com>
 Subject: Kangaroos

>From the Wikipedia clearing up the Kangaroo issue:
Terminology
The word *kangaroo* derives from the Guugu
Yimidhirr<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guugu_Yimidhirr_language>word
*gangurru*, referring to a grey
kangaroo.[7]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo#cite_note-6>The
name was first recorded as "Kangooroo or Kanguru" on 4
August <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_4>
1770<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1770>,
by Lieutenant <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant> (later
Captain<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_%28naval%29>)
James Cook <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cook> on the banks of
the Endeavour
River <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endeavour_River> at the site of modern
Cooktown <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooktown,_Queensland>, when HM Bark *
Endeavour* <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Bark_Endeavour> was beached for
almost seven weeks to repair damage sustained on the Great Barrier
Reef<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reef>
.[8] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo#cite_note-7> Guugu
Yimidhirr<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guugu_Yimidhirr_language>is the
language of the people of the area.
A common myth about the kangaroo's English name is that 'kagaroo' was a
Guugu Yimidhirr phrase for "I don't understand
you."[9]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo#cite_note-8>According
to this
legend <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend>, Captain James
Cook<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cook>and naturalist Sir Joseph
Banks <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Banks> were exploring the area
when they happened upon the animal. They asked a nearby local what the
creatures were called. The local responded "Kangaroo", meaning "I don't
understand you", which Cook took to be the name of the creature. The
Kangaroo myth was debunked in the 1970s by linguist John B. Haviland in his
research with the Guugu Yimidhirr
people.[10]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo#cite_note-9>
Male kangaroos are called *bucks*, *boomers*, *jacks*, or *old men*; females
are *does*, *flyers*, or *jills*, and the young ones are
*joeys<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_%28marsupial%29>
*.[11] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo#cite_note-sandiego-10>
The collective
noun <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_nouns> for kangaroos is a *mob
*, *troop*, or *court*. Kangaroos are often colloquially referred to as *
roos*.[12] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo#cite_note-11>

TomÃ¡s
*
"a person with a good book is never alone... a writer until they've written
one is never at peace"*

----------

From: Roland Desnerck <desnerck.roland at skynet.be>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2009.11.25 (01) [EN]

Beste Laaglanders, beste Ron (zonder Cola!), beste allemaal, bÃ©ste junder
ollegoare,

Lang geleden, nietwaar!?
Ben druk bezig geweest, heb ondertussen weer twee albums van Kuifje
("Tintin") in het Oostends vertaald.

Wat betreft het toilet aan boord.
Het was zo dat de officieren en "hogekoppen" achteraan een toilet hadden met
rechtstreekse val in de zee. Maar de gewone schepelingen moesten vooraan bij
de boegspriet waaronder dan ook een net gespannen was. En dit is misschien
interessant: het stag van boegsprietuiteinde, (of kluiverboomuiteinde als de
b oegspriet moest verlengd worden) wordt in het Nederlands strontstag
genoemd en nu weten jullie ook welke de oorsprong daarvan is!
Op de kleinere vaartuigen, zoals de vissersschepen, zaten de bemanningsleden
gewoon over de reling van de verschansing en lieten maar vallen. Het is dan
ook begrijpelijk dat een bepaalde Oostendse visser de bijnaam ("lapname")
PLOEM had (ploem, ploem, ploem...)!

Vele groetjes en toetnoasteki!

Roland Desnerck
Watergangstraat 9
8420 De Haan (bij Oostende)
Tel. 00 32 59 235657

----------

From: Paul Finlow-Bates <wolf_thunder51 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2009.11.25 (01) [EN]

From: Andrys Onsman
<Andrys.Onsman at calt.monash.edu.au<http://uk.mc264.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Andrys.Onsman@calt.monash.edu.au>
>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2009.11.24 (01) [EN]

As far as I know, in Australia it is generally accepted that the word
kangaroo derives from the Australian Aboriginal language Guugu Yimidhirr
word gangurru.

--- Seems pretty obvious.  I wonder why there was ever such a preceived
mystery about the origin of the word looking at that.

Incidentally, there is one major difference between aboriginal hunting or
fighting boomerangs from Australia and other throwing axes: They are
assymetrical in the throwing plane.  That means they move through the air
with a three-dimensional curve rather than a ballistic 2D curve.  That makes
them harder to aim, but once mastered they are a nightmare to evade if
you're on the receiving end.  Ask a batter facing a curve-ball or a batsman
facing a late in-swinger.

Paul
Derby
England

•

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