Place Facts About Etymology

There is a town in Pennsylvania named Intercourse.

"Goodbye" came from "God bye" which came from "God be with you."

Singapore means "Lion city".

Thailand's capital Bangkok means "city of angels".

Argentina's capital Buenos Aires literally means 'good airs' or 'fair winds' in Spanish.

The name Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, likely derives from Sanskrit and Persian words meaning 'high place,' fitting for a city situated 1,790 meters above sea level in the Hindu Kush mountains.

Korea's capital Seoul means "Capital".

China's capital Beijing literally means "Northern Capital" in Mandarin Chinese.

'Vodka' is Russian for 'little water'.

Canada comes from the Iroquoian word 'kanata,' meaning 'village' or 'settlement.'

Beelzebub is Hebrew for 'Lord of the Flies'.

'Klaxon' is a name that does not belong to one of Santa's reindeer. A klaxon is actually a powerful electric horn. Its name comes from a German word meaning "shriek".

The Canary Islands were not named after a bird called the canary. They were named after a breed of dogs!

The color orange was named after the fruit and not the other way around.

There is a county in California called Yolo.

Before the English speaking world was exposed to the fruit, the color orange was referred to as “geoluhread” which is Old English for red-yellow.