Ya' Knew It All The Time

The people over at National Geographic blog have put together an interactive map of what various city names actually mean when traced back to their Native American roots, and some of 'em are a real hoot.

Native American words echo in the names of lakes, rivers, mountains, states, cities, and small towns across the United States. The first settlers, who put many European words on the map, also borrowed names from local tribes. They often mispronounced what they heard—that’s how the Washoe word dá’aw, or lake, became Tahoe…

Winnebago The name of Wisconsin’s lake means "person of dirty water" in Algonquin. The word was used to describe Siouan Indians who lived near the lower Fox River, where dead fish accumulated every summer behind a natural dam.

But the best is the one intelligent voters figured out long before last November:

Chicago: At the skunk place

Dug up at Neatorama

posted by Harrison at 12:03 AM