Sofista
Deity
Huayna, Dann... what's Chinese for Italy?
Why the generic name for our country (USA)?
- Thread starter MarkC1
- Start date
CheScott
Prince
Hunny Cap needs to move to Minnesota or Wisconsin. We name god-damned everything with Native American names.
The United States gets a generic name because we are a generic country.
The United States gets a generic name because we are a generic country.
Huayna Capac357
Deity
Personally, I don't know, but zhongwen.com says "Yidali" meaning roughly "An intention thats benefits greatly."
Huayna Capac357
Deity
BTW, another "poetic" name is France, "Faguo" with "Fa" meaning order, way, method, path, law.
Well, it's a bit late to fix that...
Pokurcz
Emperor
Newfoundland must be filled with penguins at once and called....Tuxland!
Huayna Capac357
Deity
They call Iceland "Bingdao," meaning "Ice Island."
I couldn't find what they call Greenland. One assumes "Qingdao," or "Green Island." However, this is already the name of a city (aka Tsingtao, of beer fame).
I couldn't find what they call Greenland. One assumes "Qingdao," or "Green Island." However, this is already the name of a city (aka Tsingtao, of beer fame).
The "United States" is purposely a generic name. it symbolised that it wasn't one state rising up and ruling over the others, but many states willingly joining together.
BTW: this is a bit off-topic, but does anyone know what 'New Zealand' is named after? the only Zealand i know of is in Denmark, and we never laid claim to anything east of the Baltic.
BTW: this is a bit off-topic, but does anyone know what 'New Zealand' is named after? the only Zealand i know of is in Denmark, and we never laid claim to anything east of the Baltic.
Sofista
Deity
Quick note: It is "Canada" not "Dominion of Canada". That would be the same as "Republic of the United States of America". It may have been used as the name in the past, but the name is simply Canada. THis is backed by both the BNA and teh Canadian constitution.
Canada itself comes from improper translations. Kanata was the word for village (or other similar things), but was applied by someone to mean a specific village, and then the lands of the Saint Lawrence and Great Lakes, which became the largest colony involved in confederation.
You should see come of the other names considered.
Also note that initially (Articles of Confederation) the United States of America, were far more decentralized. I am not sure how much power Congress held, but I believe the states were effectively independent countries.
But yeah, if you go back, most countries have similar types of names.
Mexico was simply named after the biggest city (which was in turn named after the people that lived there when the Spanish arrive).
England is comes from the land of the Angles. Many European countries are named like this (i.e. Scotland, France). Many of these aren't obvious since the people are no longer referred to as such, or the people moved on.
Austria is Eastern Empire.
Some ones I find great:
Newfoundland: was out of date pretty quickly
Algeria: comes from the Island or something like that.
East Timor: simply means East East.
Slaughter
Paladin
The way USAmericans love Colombo, I imagine that SOMEONE was pretty angry when another country was named after him first. They could've callend themselves, say, Vespuccia.
What is the chinese name for Brazil, by the way?
What is the chinese name for Brazil, by the way?
Huayna Capac357
Deity
It's "Baxi" meaning, roughly, "Await the West." It's phonetic.
Mirc
Not mIRC!!!
Huayna, you never answered about Italy, Canada and Romania... 
Huayna Capac357
Deity
I answered Italy! Canada is "Jianada." Not sure what it means. Don't know/couldn't find what Romania is.
DroopyTofu
Double Bass Double Bass
Do you speak chinese or do you use a website?
What website is it, if applicable(always wanted to use that word!!)?
What website is it, if applicable(always wanted to use that word!!)?
Huayna Capac357
Deity
I know quite a few on my own "US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Russia, Brazil, and Iceland" but I also use a website to fact check and get a couple others. It is http://www.zhongwen.com. It's really good, but it doesn't have some things like Romania. I don't speak Chinese though (used to speak a little, but I forgot, which is really the worst thing I ever did)
Jan H
Prince
Yep, it's name was derived from the Dutch province of Zeeland, which is south of Rotterdam (in the province of Holland) and North of the Belgian border. In English, Zeeland would be translated as "Sea land"...
Nice page. So the Czech Repulic is jié ké..a hand-shoulder?
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