Etymology Facts

There is a town in Pennsylvania named Intercourse.

The abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.

"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.

The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan.

The onion is named after the Latin word 'unio' meaning large pearl.

Korea's capital Seoul means "Capital".

The longest word in the English language is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis — a 45-letter term that was deliberately invented to hold that very title!

The word taxi is spelled the same in English, German, French, Swedish, Spanish and Portuguese.

The name Joshua is Hebrew for 'Jesus'.

The weight of a carat (200 milligrams), the standard unit of measurement for gemstones, is based on the weight of the carob seed.

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.'

Pinocchio is Italian for "pine eye"!

Crayola is a French word that means 'Oily chalk.'"

The word 'Indiana' is Native American for 'Land of the Indians', yet less than 16,000 Native Americans live there.

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!

Budweiser beer is named after a town in the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia).