Subject:
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Re: Another one for Maggie (and or Dave!)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.fun
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Date:
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Sat, 20 Apr 2002 21:43:38 GMT
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Viewed:
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1007 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.fun, William R. Ward writes:
> "Larry Pieniazek" <lpieniazek@mercator.com> writes:
> > In lugnet.off-topic.fun, Tobbe Arnesson writes:
> > > On another, similar, note I can tell all that tuna in Swedish is
> > > "tonfisk" which translates into tuna (ton) fish (fisk). So I guess
> > > other lingos too has the fish in there.
>
> German, too. "Thunfisch," IIRC.
This must be an exclusive of the germanic languages... :-P
In 4 Latin languages this fish is referred to as:
Atum (Portuguese)
Thon (French)
Atún (Spanish)
Tonno (Italian)
So, my guess is the "Barbarian Invaders" used the Latin name of the fish,
complementing with "fish" to know what they were talking about. Sort of like
the story below:
> Apparently in England there is a hill called "Torpenhow Hill." Quoth
> Patricia C. Wrede (noted fantasy novelist) in rec.arts.sf.composition:
>
> First set of invaders: What's that?
> Natives: The Tor. (Translation: The hill.)
> Invaders #1: Right. Tor Hill it is.
> (Some time later)
> Invaders #2: What's that?
> Settled descendents of Invaders #1: Tor Pen. (Translation: Hill hill.)
> Invaders #2: Right. Torpen Hill it is.
> (Later still)
> Invaders #3: What's that?
> Next round of descendents: Torpen How. (Translation: Hillhill Hill.)
> Invaders #3: Right. Torpenhow Hill...
>
> Type "torpenhow hill" into Google and you'll get lots of other similar
> examples - the River Avon is "River River", etc.
Valid throughout the world!
There are a number of *cities* in Portugal which have in its name "Vila Nova
de..." (New *Village* of...). One would expect the name would be changed,
but no: the pennants of these cities say "City of New Village of..."
My own city is named Porto ("harbor"). You can now figure out sailors saying
their destination was the "harbor of harbor" to less intelligent customs
officials... ;-)
Pedro
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Another one for Maggie (and or Dave!)
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| (...) German, too. "Thunfisch," IIRC. (...) Apparently in England there is a hill called "Torpenhow Hill." Quoth Patricia C. Wrede (noted fantasy novelist) in rec.arts.sf.composition: First set of invaders: What's that? Natives: The Tor. (...) (23 years ago, 20-Apr-02, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)
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